TNA's missed "MMA moment"
Written by Malakai the Big Samoan | Friday, April 25 2008
Kurt Angle and Samoa Joe impressed everyone with their 'MMA style' match. Except, apparently, for their own company's creative team.
Like fans of any so called “legitimate"? sport, pro wrestling enthusiasts have their share of memorable moments. The most recent addition to that list for many was the Ric Flair/Shawn Michaels retirement match at Wrestlemania, followed by the amazing tribute on RAW the following night. There are also moments that signify a ‘new era’ in the entire industry. The most obvious example is the WWE title match where Hulk Hogan defeated the Iron Sheik. Based on the changes that came about during the “Hulkamania"? era it could be argued that this is the most significant match in pro wrestling history.
The Hogan legdrop and pin of the Iron Sheik has to be #1, but there are other moments that foretold significant changes in the pro wrestling business. Some of these, like Vince McMahon’s takeover of Georgia Championship Wrestling on “Black Sunday"? in 1984, happened as much in the front office as anywhere else. In the ring, events like the Montreal “screwjob"? of Bret Hart or the Hulk Hogan “heel turn"? which set WCW’s “NWO"? angle ablaze set in motion major changes in individual promotions or the business as a whole.
The world title match between Kurt Angle and Samoa Joe at TNA’s “Lockdown"? PPV received almost universal praise. Dave Meltzer of “The Wrestling Observer"? said of the match “there was an intensity in this title match that harkened back to the days of Jack Brisco, Lou Thesz and Dory Funk Jr."? and that Angle and Joe created “the aura of a real contest, as if they were wrestling for a real world title"?. TNA’s production team did an exceptional job in creating an environment that enhanced this intensity. For a promotion that has struggled from day 1 to create its own identity, this was a welcome switch from the endless “gimmick matches"?, the frequent “stipulations"? that are forgotten the next week and the muddled and confusing storylines that reduce some of the best in-ring talent in the world to the level of a 2nd rate version of the WWE.
The match itself was unique, at least for a US audience. There have been matches of this sort in Japan for years but a “strong style"?, realistically worked contest in the era of “sports entertainment"? was extremely novel. The first part of the match was worked like a MMA contest, with takedowns and submission attempts. The end worked in a few pro wrestling moves, including Joe’s “Muscle Buster"? move that eventually got him the pin. Many who watched the match noted that the fewer “pro wrestling"? type moves actually made it more effective, and it also served to make pin attempts seem meaningful. In other words, when someone hit a big move and tried for a pin there was a real feeling that the outcome of the match was at stake.
Those with knowledge of what happens “behind the scenes"? were surprised that this style match ever saw the light of day. The creative team at TNA consists of Jeff Jarrett, along with Dutch Mantel and Vince Russo. Russo served in a similar role in the WWE during the time when it finally put WCW down for the count and in the process made stars of “The Rock"? and Steve Austin. Russo’s style of production is nicknamed “Crash TV"?, and emphasizes backstage skits and interaction between wrestlers who act as if the camera isn’t present. It also features a booking philosophy that can be best described as throwing ideas at the wall and seeing what sticks. Feuds and plotlines start and stop without any direction or resolution, and a greater emphasis is placed on non-wrestling storylines than actual in ring action. The problem is that what worked in the WWE in the mid-1990’s was a product of the times and the wrestling marketplace, but Russo has tried since then to replicate his “Crash TV"? formula in any promotion that hires him.
By the time the next episode of TNA Impact aired it was obvious that the Joe vs. Angle match that insiders and fans were raving about was simply an aberration and didn’t represent a longterm change in direction. Even a few weeks later, Angle/Joe is almost as much of a relic as Jack Brisco and Dory Funk,Jr. And its business as usual at TNA, with incredibly talented wrestlers lost in storylines that make no sense. Like so many wrestling promotions in the wake of the WWE national expansion, TNA is mistakenly attempting to find a niche by imitation rather than innovation.
The most significant demographic trend in the pro wrestling industry has been the almost total disappearance of adult males from live events and the PPV audience. This is precisely the same demographic that has flocked to MMA and for all of the talk of “MMA vs. boxing"? the two are very likely related. The WWE audience, which comprises most of the US pro wrestling audience, is now made up mostly of teenagers and younger kids. Most of the adults you see in attendance are their parents. The WWE has taken note of this and is encouraging this trend with a number of marketing vehicles including a magazine targeted to kids 6 and up called “WWE Kids"?.
While TNA has made some positive strides in the marketplace of late, the reality is that they’re not going to compete with the WWE. For them to think that they can supplant a well established, publicly traded company with a $1 billion plus market cap is delusional. To think that this can be done by creating a product that is little more than a watered down version of WWE storylines is even more foolhardy. There are plenty of examples of companies that have tried this and failed including WCW, who Vince Russo worked for at the time of its demise.
Where this is some market opportunity, however, is in offering an alternative to WWE’s increasingly “kid focused"? product. The Ring of Honor (ROH) promotion has earned a solid “cult following"? by offering a more realistic and action based product. TNA is in a position where they could do the same with even better results due to their national TV exposure on SPIKE. Their presence on a network that offers so much UFC programming would make targeting this young adult market even easier. TNA isn’t going to “beat"? the WWE, but they could very easily become a profitable promotion offering an alternative type of pro wrestling.
The Samoa Joe/Kurt Angle match should have been the beginning of a new era for TNA and pro wrestling as a whole. Unfortunately, it would seem, the egos of the TNA creative team took precedence over what was best for the company.
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