Their defenses must be made of Swiss cheese, because the number of times that TNA has been invaded since its inception is mind-boggling. So, I'm just going to cut to the chase without all the flowery backstory. Can we not do TNA invasion angles anymore? I'll even outline some reasons why.
- They usually involve Jeff Jarrett.
- They end up convoluted beyond repair in a way that, somehow surpasses Vince Russo's genius vision for the wrestling world.
- They usually involve Jeff Jarrett.
- Even when they're not overly confusing, no one gets over (or somehow, Vince Russo gets back into things).
- They usually involve Jeff Jarrett.
TNA has either been invaded by--or has invaded--AAA, GFW, Wrestle-1, ECW (technically), The nWo (technically), your mom, and probably Sunny. Speaking of which, I'm legit surprised that TNA hasn't tried to bring Sunny in at any point. But, I digress. TNA has, for better or worse, gotten a reputation of being WWE-lite. Now, we all hoped that GFW wouldn't end up being this way. But, somehow, we knew deep in our minds that things'd turn into some funky invasion angle. And so far, it's failing.
If TNA ever wants to be seen as more than the "WWE-lite show with the six-sided ring," they've got to stop living in the past. They've got to stop doing these sort of angles. Hell, wrestling as a whole needs to stop the invasion angles. Hence the change in title for this one.
Call me a smark, but an "invasion" doesn't exactly have the same impact when even casual fans who only know John Cena from a Fruity Pebbles box and his shirts read dirtsheets. It doesn't mean as much when ten-year-olds know (or think they know) what kayfabe is.
"But, Speed! The Shield worked."
The Shield worked because it wasn't an invasion. It wasn't just some new team beating the faces. It wasn't Hulk Hogan turning heel. The Shield was its own thing, possibly described as The Nexus on steroids, the nWo with some Speed, and the Million Dollar Corporation with some coke mixed in for your wrasslin' pleasure.
They didn't grow beyond the three of them. They didn't allow new members. Their storylines were simple: we're The Shield, we're here to kick some ass. Fuck what you hear, it's what you're hearing. They weren't introduced as a faction that wanted to take over the WWE. They were introduced as vigilantes who wanted to enact justice upon the promotion, by any means they could.
So, wrestling promoters all over, I ask one things.
Can we not do invasion angles and try to think of better, more ingenious ways, to introduce new talent?
0 comments:
Post a Comment