wrestling / Columns

When I Used To Love TNA

June 24, 2016 | Posted by Justin Watry
TNA Kurt Angle Image Credit: Impact Wrestling

Hi, I’m Justin Watry. You may remember me from such classic columns as March 2012’s “WWE WrestleMania 28: Sheamus Should Defeat Daniel Bryan in Less Than a Minute” and October 2015’s “WWE NXT: Bobby Roode, You’re Next.”

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RipStamps: I don’t think Jericho’s odds are as bad as you think.

I was probably a little harsh, but of the six guys, yeah, he ranked fifth or sixth. Just how it goes.

James: Glad to see Watry’s column’s back. Where have you been?

My column didn’t go up Monday night because of a posting error I made. It was 100% my fault. Besides that…

Where have I been? I’ve been writing columns all week as usual and plugging them on my @JustinWatry Twitter account. Plus, getting prepped for CBS’ Big Brother 18 starting. Where have YOU been?

Backstory

Here’s the deal folks. Due to my schedule for the next few days, I can’t write about WWE Money in the Bank (hasn’t happened yet as I type this). My Sunday is taken up by being poolside during the day, NBA Finals Game 7 party at night, and then work immediately afterwards. Thus, I am actually watching the pay-per-view Monday and would have no time to make this column deadline. Therefore, I needed a non-WWE topic in order to remain somewhat relevant to today.

Thankfully, I was saved by an email from Connor! Much props to him for the column suggestion and idea. Here is what he sent me a few days ago:

Connor via email: I’m curious, was there ever a time in TNA’s existence that you thought they genuinely could be the next big rival? If so, what was the kinda time frame of it?

Great question my man and thanks again for bailing me out of my conundrum.

TNA Early Days

Truthfully, my memories of TNA Impact Wrestling on FSN Friday afternoons is pretty hit or miss. I think my first exposure to them was on “The Best Darn Sports Show Period” or some other program. I do recall the X-Division high flying action and all the fact paced wrestling. The legends and ‘names’ showing up was cool, but the fact is I never knew a specific time to watch or when I did…it wouldn’t air. Kinda hard to keep up with it at the time unfortunately.

I do remember my brother always railing against the countdown on matches. Like seriously, they are telling us when it will end?!?! Seriously?!?! How ridiculous and stupid – a common theme of TNA’s big bold ideas through the years…

Spike TV Debut

I will never forget the date: October 1st, 2005. It was a Saturday, and I had my long-time crush over to my house for a school project. She was smoking hot let me tell you! What also happened that night was the Spike TV debut of TNA Impact Wrestling. I know because I recorded it on my VHS and loved it!

Yes, loved it!

I knew the quality wasn’t very good on the tape, but I was determined to show my brother (and others who didn’t actually care) this new product and convince him of the great young stars. Even though he called them no-namers and bums – the X-Division stuff caught his eye. Samoa Joe was the one who stood out among myself and others. The size of this guy going over the top rope and moving a million miles per hour. Go back and find a tape of the TNA-Spike TV debut episode. It absolutely felt like something of a dawning of a new era or at least a brand to keep an eye out for. Just to tune in and check out if the time allowed.

Now, here is what a lot of you readers do NOT know. From that week on, I recorded every single episode of TNA. Whether I was home or not. I taped them all. Team 3D showing up was cool. All of a sudden, there is Christian. Tease of Sting speaking for the first time in years (a huge ratings boost for them at the time). All these moments were happening in TNA!

Make no mistake, I was still all in on WWE and loved their show(s), but TNA was easily able to get my one hour of viewing each weekend. Heck, many of you won’t believe me, but buried in a box somewhere covered in dust is THREE TNA DVD box sets I got years and years ago. That is the 100% truth ladies and gentlemen. I taped the show, I tried to convince others to check it out and even got a few of their DVDs.

It was a good time to be a wrestling fan.

Kurt Angle Shows Up!

This was major. Shocking beyond belief. People often mention John Cena returning at the 2008 Royal Rumble as the biggest surprise of this social media/spoilers time frame, but a close second is Kurt Angle jumping to TNA. Unless you were following this drama at the time in Fall 2006, you will never understand how shocking this was to see. It was nothing anybody reputable thought was possible (due to contracts and many other issues) and just blew everybody’s mind.

A little secret I never told anybody: I missed school the day after it was announced Kurt Angle had jumped to TNA. Yeah, it was partially because I was still tired from a weekend at the strip club, but it was also because I just HAD to read up on all the Angle/TNA news. Screw school on this one Monday in September. ANGLE WAS IN TNA! I had to know everything. All the while, TNA was building up one heck on a Bound For Glory pay-per-view and had done a masterful job hyping up everything – Kurt Angle’s first live appearance as well!

I mean, they even had Chris Jericho’s band Fozzy playing for a PPV video package.

Still, I was watching. Still, I was taping every single episode on VHS. Still, it was a great product and something to truly invest in.

Then It All Ended…

Honestly, I don’t know if it was the Thursday move, the two hours in prime time, the arrival of more and more ex-WWE stars, the writer, or a mix of everything. I never was able to pin point it. I just know that sometime in 2006/2007, my feelings started to change.

I missed recording one episode of TNA and was super upset with myself for forgetting that ONE episode.

Then I missed another a few weeks later.

Then another.

And another.

The TNA I knew and loved was gone, and it wasn’t coming back No longer was it this crisp, clean, intense one hour to watch on Saturday nights. It was this messed up mess full of messy messes that lumbered through two hours and created a highlight reel of head shaking moments to be mocked. As this sad scene from Toy Story 2 illustrates, times they were a changin…

The Final Straw

It was Bound For Glory 2011.

As much garbage as I had put up with through the years (Monday Night Squash), this is what I wrote in my Bound For Glory 2011 preview column:

“Roode and Storm could be future stars in the business. I have never wavered from that notion. Again, it just can’t happen in TNA. They are incapable of creating a legit superstar.

That being said, Roode has shined this past year, and it is time for Beer Money to go their separate ways. The first step happens on Sunday.

Angle will be defending the TNA title against Bobby Roode. Or is it still Robert Roode? I heard both names on TNA this past week, so I guess it doesn’t matter.

Roode must win here. CLEAN! Angle and Roode can go for 30 minutes and have as many near falls as they want, but Roode needs to win on his own. No interference. No Storm running out. No Immortal brawling at ringside.

Roode absolutely has to win the title on Sunday. There is no other option here.”

I later said any other outcome would be deemed a failure and my weekly coverage of TNA would end if he lost.

Well, he lost.

In true TNA fashion, we got a funky, botched, flat ending to a huge pay-per-view of theirs.

Save me the non-sense about TNA “saving it” with the heel turn, title win, and months in the followup. They didn’t. Bound For Glory was the top PPV for them, and they blew it. If you want me to post the ratings information from late 2011 to early 2012, I can next week. Trust me, the audience tuned in for the usual post-PPV followup and then left in droves after that. The entire Bobby Roode/James Storm debacle was what started the Spike TV relationship downfall, as it did for my ‘regular’ viewing.

I couldn’t do it anymore.

I just couldn’t.

TNA wasn’t advancing anywhere or making an impact anymore. It was just there for guys and gals to work, get noticed, and move to WWE if need be.

One Spike TV cancellation, many terrible business decisions, a predicted Destination America flop, and exile to POP TV later, here we are.

I don’t have Destination America, so I was only able to see the premiere and a few episodes after that. Same with POP TV – I don’t have the channel and haven’t cared to even bother with the short Youtube clips in months. Pretty disappointing considering I used to tape every single episode of theirs ten years earlier.

Long story short for Connor – yeah, there was a time TNA had a good thing going. I don’t know if they got too big for their britches, wanted to be WWE too fast, or just simply lost their way with bad behind the scenes moves. I have no idea. All I can tell you is my story and show you all the ratings information, live events being non-existent, invisible PPV business, and a show now airing on POP TV as evidence that backs up my claims.

Oh well, don’t blame me! It’s just TNA being TNA…

Self Promotion

Watch Big Brother 18 on CBS.

Tons of columns posted last week – find them on my Twitter account! Speaking of…

Follow me on Twitter: @JustinWatry – I am doing a WWEShop giveaway! Must be following to win.

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article topics :

GFW Impact, TNA, Justin Watry