Russo back in TNA

[Liverlips McGee]

Dave Meltzer reports this afternoon on WrestlingObserver.com that the "big surprise that will supposedly change the entire history and face of the industry" to be announced on the TNA No Surrender PPV is the return of Vince Russo.

Russo is being hired to join the booking committee, and will work with Dutch Mantel and Jeff Jarrett. Mike Tenay and Scott D'Amore have been removed from the committee. It's unclear where Jeremy Borash stands.

Dixie Carter and TNA have given Russo guidelines that there can be no sleaze (ala the programming pushed by Russo in WWF) on its programming. The announcement will officially be made to talent this weekend.

Meltzer believes that there will likeky be a shake-up in personnel, but there will likely be a shake-up there as well. He speculates that Russo's return may lead to some talent not renewing their deals, and certainly ends the negotiations with Bill Goldberg. Credit PWBTS.com

Wow. Yet another reason not to watch TNA, just when it started getting kinda good.

[Big T]

Well he always was buddy-buddy with Jarrett so it's not a big surprise in itself but when you thought he was gone for good he comes back...annoying pest.

[adrock2099]

thats gheyer than teh AIDZ.

[Mr Eighties Wrestling]

Excuse the probably stupid question, but why does Russo's return automatically end the negotiations with Goldberg??

[Liverlips McGee]

Goldberg hates Russo, dating back to the WCW days. Same reason Hogan never joined TNA.

[FreshBase]

I doubt Goldberg would want to seriously consider going to TNA, unless he was getting "Sting Money" which is around $500,00 per annnum, making Sting the top earner in TNA.

[nightmare_X91]

tna sucks i h8 the whole "our wrestling is unscripted" thing bullshit

[I've Cena 'Nough]

Just give him a chance you gay ass immature faggots

[Quarez]

Just give him a chance you gay ass immature faggots

You know what? I'll give you a chance to rid the world of a horrible plague, by having you go kill yourself!

[Liverlips McGee]

Just give him a chance you gay ass immature faggots

I've given him four. He's sucked every single time.

[john7743]

You know what? I'll give you a chance to rid the world of a horrible plague, by having you go kill yourself!
here here

[northeasternsports]

Vince Russo goes to TNA and everyone immediately hates the move? Hold on a second, everybody, and lets give this some serious thought . If you want to bring up how bad Russo was in WCW (and he was terrible), then you also have to credit him for how good he was in the WWF (now WWE). Everybody marked out for this guy for years when you didn't see him on tv or know who he was, because almost everything created in the "Attitude Era" came from Russo! If he stays behind the scenes in TNA, and does what hes good at, it may not be a terrible idea to have him there. I would take a wait and see approach on this subject. Jarrett isn't going to re-live history here. As much as I think he should be behind the scenes as well, he knows what happened in WCW, and considering he owns this company, one would think he will learn from history.
As far as Goldberg goes, he is a problem that TNA doesn't need on its hands now or ever. The guy comes out of nowhere, has a little run with big success, and all of the sudden thinks he deserves something in this business. Well, he didn't draw with the WWE and they subsequently let him go. They don't need to waste money on Goldberg. They should let Sting's contract expire as well and let him ride into the sunset also. TNA made a smart move signing Angle (which i'll get into on another thread), and they just need to be patient. WCW was formed over decades. TNA is not yet competition for the WWE. And I hate when people say that TNA sucks. It's been around for less than a decade. Tell me what other promotion has gotten so far so fast in the history of this business. There is only one, and that is the original incantation of ECW. See me in 5 years and maybe then we can talk about competition.
If you don't like TNA, thats fine. No wrestling promotion is for everyone. For me, its the only show I can watch the whole hour without changing the channel. I still watch WWE programming, but its more because of the lack of options around more than anything else. The writing of all their shows has gotten absurd. I watch ECW if I remember its on, then I listen to the fans who screamed change the channel during the Batista Big Show match from awhile back, and I change the channel. Wrestling is in a very strange period right now. We'll see where it goes from here. Vince better hope TNA becomes a major player, because he has always done his best work when the competition has been the strongest.

[Liverlips McGee]

I didn't bother reading that because it was too long and I don't have the inclination to do it. Gut feeling tells me, though, that you're a retard.

[Quarez]

I read it and somehow I feel that time was wasted...

[adrock2099]

Something about liking penises? I'm not sure, the paragraphs were so long it started to blend together.

[Jatycre]

You actually give Russo credit for WWE beating WCW? Russo left WWE and WWE won the war, he went to WCW and WCW went bust. Russo's a jackass.

[Liverlips McGee]

Is that what he said? What an idiot. After Russo left, ratings increased. When Russo went to WCW, they decreased.

[Jatycre]

That was what I got out of the jumbled mess. I suppose next we're supposed to believe that Ferrara revitalized WCW with his fresh ideas, and his unbelievable idea to copy WWE's head commentator. Oh yeah, Oklahoma was such a damn great idea, that no one ever gave two shits.

[DecoyTantric]

The greatest (or worst) possible wrestling writer won't make an ounce of difference to the TNA television product if they don't work on their biggest detractor:

PRODUCTION.

That show has horrible production--even for Spike TV's standards. I said it once before, and months later it's only gotten worse. Post-production is both choppy and cheesily done; both Tenay and West have to be replaced; they seemingly waste a lot of money transferring their video clips to film and making overkilled music videos.

I would LOVE to see TNA live someday; it looks like a hell of a lot of fun (the problem is shelling out the $$$ to go to Orlando or any of the PPVs). But they have 3 WEEKS to post-produce shows shot in ONE DAY. That is a very fair amount of time to put a REALLY GOOD product on the air.

So to me, their production is the #1 reason why they're not really a competitive threat to WWE. I say fix THAT first...THEN worry about having a total fucking hack on the writing staff.

[adrock2099]

I agree with that to a point. I think part of the reason its production sucks is because they really just don't have that much money.

[DecoyTantric]

I agree with that to a point. I think part of the reason its production sucks is because they really just don't have that much money.

Well, two of the problems I pointed out shouldn't cost any money to fix. One, stick with video, to hell with film (for those of you who don't know, film is WAY more expensive); other than the new movie branch, WWE sticks purely with digital video--which is saving them TONS of money in the long run. I'm not saying that TNA is using film for every show, but when I was viewing the promo for Bound for Glory, I could clearly tell it was done in film. A simple montage using video clips will suffice.

Two, the post-production problems can be fixed simply with technique. They already have the equipment, so it's not like they have to buy anything fancier (ECW certainly had to make do with THEIR equipment, and did), they just have to learn the best thing to do with each and every shot/clip/scene. For example: when Jake Roberts came out and did his mic promo, they did some really choppy cut-to-the-crowd-cheering shit that I've only seen in those shitty Ron Popeil infomercials. Solution: find other portions of the show to cut and splice; work on audio fade/crossfade techniques; and for god's sake, don't ever step on a promo like that; if it's not fit for TNA or TV, then bleep it or whatever.

As for Tenay and West...well, replacing them's easier said than done.

[adrock2099]

The second point I agree with, but I think those promos are just DV filtered to look like film.

[DecoyTantric]

The second point I agree with, but I think those promos are just DV filtered to look like film.

Yeah...I gotta agree with that. I really don't know what made me think they would waste all that time actually transferring to film. I can't even say I was drunk when I posted that.

Well then, it all boils down to technique and broadcast talent. I'm still really annoyed that they would piss on a Jake Roberts promo, EVER.

[adrock2099]

I think we can all agree that TNA is really not that good. At all.

[DecoyTantric]

I think we can all agree that TNA is really not that good. At all.

They have the talent with nothing to support it and/or everything to hold it down.

[adrock2099]

So, I just watched an old episode of Nitro, and larry's voice was pretty much COMPLETELY different, WTF's upwidat?

[Jatycre]

It happens. Different equipment makes announcers sound somewhat different, and of course as you get older your voice sounds gradually different.