The Best Of The Rest 9.12.08: Volume 58 – Why Mick Foley In TNA Won’t Work

Hello everyone and welcome back to the ‘Best Of The Rest!’ Sorry about the delay this week, no one told me college was going to involve this much reading… What’s on tap for this week you ask? Well in light of the move of Mick Foley to TNA I’ll be discussing why this move will have no impact on TNA or Foley at all. I hate to question Cactus or his passion for the biz, but he may just be there to pick up a check. Then again he may be there to help get guys over ala Kevin Nash. Well enough tip toeing, let’s get down to it!

The rumors swirled for awhile, but now they have proven. Mick Foley has jumped to TNA. I believe he made his ‘official debut’ at a house show sometime last week. I’m sure Dixie & Co. are feeling that they got a real coo with signing Foley, but I would have to disagree. Now I have always loved Mick, he has been one of my wrestling, and personal, heroes but his presence in TNA isn’t going to do anything else but push down more on TNA’s homegrown talent. Christian Cage was the first big name to jump ship, but I think it started when Jeff Hardy joined TNA and had some solid success, and ever since then TNA have been determined to get their hands on anyone the E, WCW, or pretty much anyone has let go and give them as much TV time as possible. Because of this their overall product has suffered greatly. There was a point in time where TNA’s product was superior to the E’s, I whole-heartedly believe that. But now-a-days, to the casual fan, TNA may just seem like the WWE’s leftovers. In this week’s column I’ll look at how Foley’s jump will only not make a difference in terms of the company’s progress but could also hurt the company even more.

One man in the history of TNA has truly been able to make a difference… Sting. He is the only one who has raised ratings and such yet TNA thinks that the more E stars they acquire the more viewers they are going to get. And that’s not to say only Sting made a difference; TNA’s ratings were still solid when it was a real showcase of their product. Wrestling fans have learned since WCW, just because a company has a smattering of former stars in the spotlight doesn’t mean that the product is going to be necessarily good. In the past few years TNA has gone from a company with future stars that could grow into a true 2nd brand of professional wrestling to Diet-WCW. The hiring of Kurt Angle was very promising, until the Total Nonstop Action became Total Nonstop Angle. The same thing goes for Booker T, he came in and just filled up more space that wasn’t available. It’s not these wrestlers fault that the company uses them this way, it’s the company’s fault for thinking that pushing all these former champions and stars to the front is the right way to go. There was a time where TNA was a true alternative, when their show featured their talent. When the main events were Samoa Joe Vs. Christopher Daniels, when ex-E stars were used the right way, when the undercard was given a shit about. Just look at events like Bound For Glory 2005, LockDown 2006, Hard Justice 2006, pretty much anything around that era. But now they are starting to resemble WCW in 2000-01, and a new addition of a guy who has WWE painted all over him doesn’t bode well for the promotion.

Personally this is just kind of upsetting to see good ol’ Mick go to TNA. One, Foley is an E guy through and through and it is going to hard to buy him on another wrestling product. And two, I always thought that Foley was one of those guys who really meant it when he said ‘when I’m done, I’m done.’ I really believed him, so to see him constantly come back and keep trying to have a spot, it’s just sort of disappointing it’s like Terry Funk, he’s retired what? 47 times? But I can’t hold Foley personally responsible; it’s just the nature of the beast I suppose. I greatly enjoyed Foley’s commentary on SmackDown, but I doubt TNA will put Mick on the announce team. Btw, how amazing would a Nash-Foley-Tenay announcing trio be? Back to what I was saying. Foley has always been willing to do whatever it takes to make the product better, get guys over, and basically just advance the art of professional wrestling. Be it his epic matches or phenomenal promos Foley has given his life to the biz. But know the question is what is he going to do in TNA? What can he do? I can’t see him making an in-ring return, I suppose he could become a commissioner of sorts, or a ‘advisor’ like Nash has been. The work Foley did in ROH was spectacular and if TNA were to use him the way Gabe & Co did it could be greatly beneficial to their show. But then again I don’t think TNA is bright enough right now to see how well that could work. What I’m trying to say is that Mick Foley could be excellent for TNA, but they will more than likely drop the ball again. I know he will make them $$$ in the merchandising department, but I can’t see much else changing.

All of this also leads into the discussion of ‘how much longer is TNA going to be kickin’?’ They just haven’t learned from WCW’s mistakes. There is no telling how much money is being dished out to pay for some of the name talent they have that isn’t being made up. They are constantly sacrificing the stars they had spent a long time making just to say “hey, we’ve got this guy on our show.” AJ Styles, Chris Sabin, Alex Shelley, even their champion Samoa Joe have looked inferior to the big stars. Not all has been bad with these guys though, I admired all the improvement Tomko has had during his time in TNA and I have loved the work he has put in. Christian has looked fantastic, but TNA has been dickin’ him around and not using him for the star that his is. Sting and Kevin Nash have done all they can to help the promotion and Sting, especially, has looked great in doing so. They have used Kurt Angle in every facet: serious Kurt, goofy Kurt, great technical wrestling Kurt, hard core wrestling Kurt. They have used him well, but they have also used him too much. They have this great crop of talent and could have a great shot but they can’t find a solid medium to settle on, but I suppose that’s what happens when Russo has got the book. See in most cases I would be jumping for glee for any promotion that acquires the services of Ms. Foley’s baby boy, but in the case of TNA after I’ve seen what they have done with stars of past fame it just seems like another step closer to the end.

Alright, well that’s my two cents for this week.

Next week, a major announcement on a format change this column is about to undergo. But until then, in honor of the one and only Mick Foley here’s…

*This Week’s YouTube Sendoff*

^Marvelous^

Remember feedback, as always, is welcome at [email protected] or directly below.

Take Care,
-Alex