ZAH
ZAH looks at TNA's character development
By ZAH
Nov 18, 2005, 18:43

By ZAH

It’s been a rough week, folks. From Sunday around noon ‘til today, it’s been a hard week being a wrestling fan. However, “the show must go on” as they say. I thought it would be slightly inappropriate to do my normal Shakin’ My Head column. I mean, I could bitch and moan about Coach on commentary Monday night, but I think I’d like to just talk about something non-WWE, if that’s okay with everybody.

What is it, you ask?

Well, there have been many people all over the Internet who have been complaining about the lack of storyline development in TNA recently. Long-time fans are upset over the lack of characters that they can get to know a little better. Some people are complaining about the wrestling, even though it is still superior to 90% of WWE product that is shoved down our throat on a week-to-week basis.

My thoughts? There is a BIG difference between not enough storylines and not enough character development...although sometimes people on the ‘Net get the two confused.

I believe that the storylines are put across well, all things considered. They only have an hour to work with and TNA really does their best to give us the storylines that we, as PPV-buying fans, should know about.

- 3 Live Kru & Kip James & Team Canada
- Samoa Joe & Christopher Daniels
- AMW & Team 3-D
- Jeff Jarrett & Monty Brown
- Petey Williams & Trinity
- Jeff Jarrett & AMW & Gail Kim

These are some of the storylines that have been presented by TNA since debuting on Spike. The list is just off the top of my head. I know that these people are involved with each other in one way or another and, in most cases, I have a pretty good idea why. The storylines have been well laid-out and well developed. No, not every match has rationale or even a reason...but I think that's okay as not every single match absolutely needs a reason (although, admittedly, it's nice).

The major issue, I believe, is that the characters themselves are what need to be developed a little bit more. I mean, let’s face it: do we really know Samoa Joe at this point? What’s the story behind Abyss because he’s got a cool look but no explanation as to why. I don't even know why Gail Kim joined up with Double J. I don't know why Monty Brown continues to blabber-on about the Serengeti. I don't know who Petey Williams is other than he’s Canadian and has the hots for Trinity (which is pretty easy to see why).

The reason character development is vital to TNA at this point is because the storylines simply can’t carry a lot of weight or meaning when nobody cares about who is involved with the storylines to begin with.

Let me make something perfectly clear at this point: I don't think TNA is in any trouble because of any storyline/character issues; at least not at the moment. I've said in my Impact reviews that TNA’s initial strategy is to grab the attention of disgruntled WWE fans and show them what wrestling can really look like. Personally, I think they are performing that job admirably.

However, that's a short-term idea for a short-term solution. I don't think anybody at TNA really believes that they can grow and thrive simply by throwing out tremendous wrestling matches each and every week. I know, I know…it doesn’t seem to make any sense but it’s true. If people tuned-in to wrestling alone, ROH would be the viable #2 company in the country right now…not TNA.

For a TNA to survive there's got to be a blend of both wrestling and entertainment to really jump-start things. They're not there yet...but I don't think there's a need to put a rush on things or even panic. They've only been on Spike for 2 months now and have had 2 PPV's. The ratings are steady (fluxuating only slightly) and they want to have them remain as steady as possible before changing things up.

I fully believe that TNA has the ability and potential to become a true, viable #2 promotion (no…they’re not quite there yet). It's going to take a couple of amazing storylines in conjunction with excellent wrestling matches to grab new fans and retain them. For those storylines to work they need interesting characters to power them. The character development will come…trust me.

I can understand the frustration of long-time fans, though. You know a lot of these wrestlers already and you believe things should move at a faster pace so that it catches up to you. However, to the newer fans like myself, who are the target audience (i.e. the frustrated WWE viewer), this is still new and very exciting to watch. I'm not saying they should continue along the same path for the next year or anything, but I don’t believe there is anything wrong with keeping things “status quo” for the next couple of months until they absolutely know for certain the audience is built-in and solid before going off in a more sports-entertainment direction.

Just stop crapping all over them and give them the time to execute their game-plan properly.

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Pillar to Post

Each and every week I’ll ask two posters from the WorldWrestlingInsanity.com message board three questions on the hot topics du jour and ask for their thoughts and insight. Ladies and gentlemen, this week I give you two more great posters…MC_U.S.TitleBelt and tmcmaster!

1. Agree or Disagree: WWE has done all the right things so far in the wake of Eddie Guerrero’s death.

MC_U.S.TitleBelt: I'll agree.

Having this be the second death of a wrestler in a hotel in the Twin Cities area in the 9 years I've lived here, I can at least say that Eddie's passing was handled significantly better than Brian Pillman's. While there seemed to be a mild dose of ducking questions by Vince when he was asked by Rita Cosby on her interview show about what could have prevented this tragedy, and some have criticized moving the funeral to next week until WWE returns from its tour of Europe as disrespectful, I think that this is probably the best we can ever hope to expect from WWE in this type of situation.

tmcmaster: Agree… maybe 90%.

Having not yet actually seen Smackdown yet, I would have to agree, to a point. The actual tributes were heartfelt and really emotionally charged. You knew by watching them that everyone loved and respected Eddie, as I think the majority of the fans did as well. The additional tributes and info posted on WWE.com has also helped, as it gave others who were not featured on the show a chance to talk about their friend. That was a really nice touch (Thanks, Vinnie!). Eddie was truly an inspiration to anyone that has fought through any of the same ‘demons’ as he has. I thought the decision to put a Diva’s Battle Royal on the show, as well as a Eugene in that silly gimmick on the show was appalling, though. C’mon…if you want to have those things on the card to keep the crowd from being ‘too somber,’ it was a taped show, they could have just edited those matches out. Of course, all things considered, with those two minor exceptions, the WWE has done a very good job of honoring Eddie and respecting his heritage, family and career. Seeing JBL be that contrite and honest about Eddie on MSNBC was a true testament to the man that Eddie was. Overall, the RAW is Eddie show Monday felt like the Owen show in a lot of ways, and made a big step towards healing.

2. Agree or Disagree: The TNA debut of Christian Cage was a little underwhelming.

MC_U.S.TitleBelt: Disagree.

While I did not actually view the PPV, which might make some think that my opinion is therefore invalid, reading the report which was very well written by Kevin Peel gave me a fair indication of Cage's debut. My opinion is... what exactly were you expecting? Didn't Scott Hall make his WCW debut in much the same fashion, with a promo? Look at what that became. To me, even though he is very skilled in the art of grappling, Christian Cage's stronger weapon is actually his mouth, which makes how he was first presented to TNA audiences quite appropriate. His run in at the end of the show also served purpose since it ended up being an attack on the gentleman that he out right stated to be his target. There certainly could have been more uneventful ways to bring him in.

tmcmaster: Agree.

I was so super pumped for this debut… probably more so than for Jericho’s initial WWF (at the time) debuting. Christian Cage is probably not in the top 10 as far as actual in ring work (though he has had flashes of brilliance), but the guy is great at telling the story in the ring, and could get a tubby, 30+ year old jackass like me over with his mic skills! Tossing him in a program right out of the gate with Jeff Jarrett is a bit of a waste to me. Granted, he has a ton of momentum right now. The rating for Impact! will no doubt be their biggest yet. But here is where I see the problem with this… If I was from Outer Space and just came down to Earth after zipping around in my star ship thingy for 5 years… here is what I would see in TNA:
A WWF/WWF mid-card champion as their World champ.
The last guy to beat him for it is a former WWE mid-carder and former ECW Champ.
The tag team champions are being hounded by 2 former WWE/ECW champions.
The biggest new guy in the company is a former WWE mid carder who is suddenly on par with the TNA champion.
And AJ Styles is f*cking Phenomenal! (Yeah, I am an AJ mark!)

I just don’t know that that bodes augers well for TNA. If my last name was Jarrett, I would have maybe had CC actually do some stuff with the Team Canada faction. Those guys could use the rub of working with him, he could get his ring skills over with the new company and get adjusted to working in a 6 sided ring. I don’t see any need to drop Christian (as hot as his stock is right now) into a main event angle… just yet. And I am a total Peep… I am also trying to think long term for TNA.

3. Agree or Disagree: If Batista’s injury prevents him from wrestling for the next three months, Randy Orton is now the best choice to be Heavyweight Champion.

MC_U.S.TitleBelt: Disagree.

Even with the shallow talent pool Smackdown has on the heel side of the coin, I wouldn't give the title to Orton if the fate of the WWE depended on it. The length of his last title reign showed how little faith the company had in his drawing abilities, and his dead end feuds with The 'Taker and Hot Rod have only reinforced that the lack of faith still exists. However, it does beg the question of just who's waist to put the strap around. Being that Eddie was the only natural choice to take the title from Batista, since there's still no news on whether or not Chris Benoit will renew his contract, the list of choices is thin. JBL was lame. Bobby Lashley and Mr. Kennedy are definitely on the rise but probably not ready for a push of this magnitude just yet. Rey Rey has the love of the fans but is not taken seriously enough by the company due to his lack of size. Perhaps this will force WWE Creative to actually be creative and come up with a plausible title transition. If not, maybe Vince should be a man and make his son in law work on Tuesdays since he seems to be the go to guy for the transitional heel champion role.

tmcmaster: Disagree.

As great as Orton thinks he is, or we are told that he is… I just don’t see his ring work warranting another title run. Didn’t RKO have a feud with the Undertaker not that long ago? Where the hell is he at? I would rather see that storyline buttoned up before we move Randy into Titletown. How about this… Let’s get nuts, and move Edge back to SmackDown! And have him use his ‘Money in the bank’ contract for a title shot… since Big Dave is hurt, Edge pushes for Teddy to just give him the belt. He has the contract, can use it, champ can’t defend his title, Edge gets it by forfeit… sounds like sound logic to me. Which is why that would never happen on a WWE program, but I digress… Perhaps a better angle would be to have Edge win it, brag about winning it, Benoit comes from the back and challenges him, and takes the belt. Smooth, 5-6 minute title reign, and WWE gets that stupid ‘Money in the bank’ contract gimmick out of there. It would also set up a nice Edge/Benoit feud, with a little Matt Hardy for good measure.