for those who don't know, tonight is the night where the david (TNA) goes up against the goliath that is the WWE. who will win? i'm going to ruminate on that question in this post.
wrestling has always been a controversial industry, and the level of debate, particularly online, generally veers between the moronic and the only slightly retarded. not much of a range. there are exceptions, but it's still something that i find difficult to look at objectively, being, well, a wrestling geek. that geek has been pretty excited for the last few days, in the run-up to TNA impact (featuring the debut of recent acquisition hulk hogan) going head-to-head with monday night raw, with guest host bret 'hitman' hart. just in case the picture hadn't given it away, i know who i'm more excited to see back in the ring.
the first thing to say when looking at this growing rivalry concerns competition. competition, in wrestling as in other sports, is generally a good thing. by that, i mean that there won't be any segments involving dx in the little peoples' court. well, they aren't being built as the main attraction anyway. this link also has the matches which TNA have announced, and it's worth looking at before you read on.
WWE have booked a match for the unified tag titles, between dx and jeri-show, the two hottest tag teams in the company. they have been engaged in a feud which has been built over the last couple of months, and this match also contains a lose and you're off raw stipulation for jericho, arguably the most effective heel in the whole WWE. in short, it's the logical end to a feud which has been well booked and well-presented, and which has captured the passions of the audience, always the key element in wrestling. the same can be said for the kofi kingston-randy orton match, which pits a rising star against an established heel. the feud between these two has been outstanding, and has elevated kingston whilst not hurting orton.
and i haven't even mentioned bret hart yet. he played a crucial part in carrying WWE through the difficult early 1990's, and is arguably the only performer who has not been adversely affected (in terms of their adoration from fans) by very public conflicts with vince mcmahon, hhh and, in particular, shawn michaels. his peak was before my time, but his fantastic book and dvd footage have cemented my view that he's probably the greatest all-round wrestler ever. that debate aside, his return to raw is a big deal. wwe did a great job of teasing potential conflict between hart, mcmahon and michaels last week, in what was the most compelling ten minutes raw has seen for a long, long time. i can't wait.
TNA have built the hype of their broadcast around hulk hogan, and run an ad campaign promoting his debut, the centrepiece of which has been this billboard in times square. at the time of writing, his debut and an x-division match inside the steel asylum are the main event attractions.
this points to why i agree with john bradshaw layfield, when he says WWE will win, regardless of how this new wrestling war unfolds. there are a number of blindingly obvious problems in basing the planned growth of your company around a guy who is the wrong side of fifty, alongside a guy (eric bischoff) who ruined the highest grossing wrestling promotion ever (WCW). quite apart from those, the publicity for the show makes minimal mention of the TNA world heavyweight champion, and arguably the best wrestler around today, aj styles. ok so the x-division, which at its best is superior to anything the WWE offers, is present on the show, but there are no storylines building to the match, it's essentially an exhibition. storylines are, and always will be, the main 'hook' in wrestling which keeps people tuning in after hulk hogan has creaked away. i don't want to bash TNA, because i love the product they put out, but i just wish they would take the good things from WWE (like how to promote yourself on a worldwide scale, how to follow through with storylines, etc etc), and then combine them with the fantastic wrestling talent they possess.
one of the fundamental problems that wrestling faces is that the audience simply isn't there in the same way that it was 10-12 years ago, when i began watching. in many ways, i'm quite close to the demographic that TNA are aiming for- i accept and enjoy the modern WWE output, although i remember how awesome and dangerous the attitude era was as well. but this so-called war is not really about people like me, who (let's face it) will watch whatever happens, it's about people who have tuned out, looking for newer and more exciting entertainment, like UFC.
which brings me back to competition. hopefully tonight will mark the start of a new competitive era in pro wrestling, where promotions will compete for an audience that wants something different. competition is a good thing! but there are different types of competition.
i'll be watching the TNA and WWE broadcasts sometime this week, and will post my thoughts after.
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