It Isn't Copying If…
If I had a credibility issue, I would be cautious to do anything that might hurt my credibility.
Over the years, TNA has been known as “WWE Lite” with a proclivity for copying what WWE does, only never doing it quite as well. The latest example is Eric Young winning the TNA title. Why? Eric never competed in the WWE but the physical comparisons between Young and recently crowned WWE World Heavyweight Champion, Daniel Bryan are obvious and leads to the obvious questions.
Did TNA put Eric Young in the spot to potentially confuse the marketplace?
Are the fans smart enough to realize the difference between Eric Young and Daniel Bryan?
Did the creative forces in TNA think no one would notice?
Rumors swirl that Vince Russo is back writing TNA TV. Young’s World Title win… this level of short-sighted hotshotting… has Russo’s fingerprints all over it. But this combination of hubris and naivete is staggering, even for Russo.
If the core wrestling audience, that wants TNA to be successful, constantly sees the company shoot themselves in the foot, it’s no wonder they criticize the product.
It would be one thing if, coincidentally, both companies spent the last year building up underdog babyfaces to finally have them overcome evil in the same week. But that was not the case here. TNA Fans should be as critical of this decision as any other because the brand they support once again come across as bush league.
TNA suffers from a credibility issue and continues to hurt their credibility.
Good news is that if Russo is indeed back writing TV, fans will be able to forget about Young’s title win rather quickly, as Russo’s ADHD style of writing ensures the title will change hands again quickly and often. Lots of hotshotting to try and boost up the ratings and make Spike TV happy.
To Streak or Not to Streak
I had called for the streak to end months ago with Heyman at the helm of the man who would defeat the Undertaker. Sure, my choice of Ryback now, in hindsight, looks awful but the cache that Paul Heyman now holds with Brock beating the Streak allows Cesaro to benefit from the rub.
Heyman is super-over right now and when Cesaro said he was a “Paul Heyman Guy” on Raw, that meant Cesaro’s push is now in full effect. No way Heyman is going to manage a bum… his guy just beat the Undertaker to beat the Streak.
Did they need to beat the Streak? No.
Are they going to take full advantage of beating the Streak? Yes.
But I still can’t believe not one wrestling company was able to get the Duck Dynasty guys to appear during the entire New Orleans weekend. That was a surprise.
