One of the big headlines coming down this week has been TNA’s signing of Long Island’s own Mick Foley. As many fans know by now, Mick was reportedly unhappy with the treatment he had received during his most recent WWE stint as color commentator on Smackdown.
Although it’s still not clear exactly in what capacity TNA will use Foley, there is no question that he will be valuable addition to the company – in any role – and brings with him a reputation as a legitimate legend and one of the most recognizable stars coming out of one of wrestling’s most successful periods in the late 1990s.
But while some observers are predicting – and I’m sure Dixie Carter and Jeff Jarrett are praying – that Foley may be a big difference maker in ratings, I just don’t see it happening, for a combination of reasons.
When TNA signed Sting – arguably one of the biggest stars of the Monday Night War era – nothing much happened. When they brought in Kurt Angle – a legitimate WWE A-lister and arguably the best wrestler in the country - nothing much happened. Booker T, Kevin Nash, Christian Cage, Scott Steiner, and on and on. And there the average iMPACT! rating remains at around a 1.0.
TNA’s problems have nothing to do with a lack of star power or quality workers in the locker room. On the contrary, with Angle, A.J. Styles, Samoa Joe, Cage, and others all on the roster, some might argue that TNA’s can hold its own against any one WWE brand. It’s certainly better than ECW’s roster, yet WWE’s C-brand handily beats TNA in the ratings each week.
Indeed, a lot of it has to do with the WWE marketing machine, and the strength the brand has built over nearly four decades. And for an upstart wrestling company like TNA to have a two-hour primetime weekly slot on a major cable network – and former home of WWE – and be regularly drawing more than a million viewers each week is incredibly impressive.
But it’s hard to see TNA’s cup as half full, when all the pieces are in place for it to be at least three-quarters full, if not spilling over with success. But TNA’s undisciplined, shoddy booking continues to slow down the progress of a potentially great company. And no single performer, whether it’s Mick Foley or Ric Flair, can do all that much to reverse the tide.
Add to that the fact that the role in which Foley has been most valuable over the years – as an in ring competitor – is pretty much off the table. Yes, TNA can go ahead and put an out-of-shape Foley in the ring, but the result might actually serve to make TNA look even more low-rent than many fans already perceive it to be.
So you’re left with a couple other options. One is to make Foley some kind of on-air authority figure, similar to the role he previously played as “Commissioner Foley” on Raw. This, too, could produce some disastrous results if Foley is put in the position to put over the inane booking concepts and convoluted match stipulations dreamt up by Vince Russo and the other incompetent TNA creative members. Just look at Jim Cornette. He’s long been considered one the most brilliant minds in wrestling, and a traditionalist in every sense of the word. And yet, there he is each week doing untold damage to his reputation by putting over reverse battle royals, King of the Mountain matches, and, my favorite, the Feast or Fired match – which nine months later – I think some fans are still trying to figure out.
The other obvious option may be the best fit for Foley, and where TNA could use him the most – behind the announce table. In his short stint as the color guy on Smackdown, Foley showed an immediate knack for deconstructing wrestling matches and angles, and adding the insights of one of wrestling’s smartest and most articulate performers. Who can blame him for not much appreciating Vince McMahon ranting and berating him through his headset, as he has a reputation for doing with many announcers?
Although both definitely bring something to the table, Mike Tenay and Don West, collectively, are not doing a good job as TNA’s announce team. It’s hard to blame them because, having watched Tenay do good work on Nitro years ago, I have to think that he’s being produced to be as bad as he is, and not just doing it on his own. And West, who came into TNA with zero experience in wrestling six years ago, has come a long way to the point where he is now a knowledgeable, passionate announcer, who – like Tenay – is poorly produced by people who mistakenly think a wrestling announcer needs to constantly with the fervor of someone watching his house burn down.
I think there’s a lot of value in keeping the same announce team that TNA has had in place since its first show, so I wouldn’t remove either West or Tenay, but rather I’d add Foley to make it a three-man announce team.
With his ring experience, smarts and name value, Foley would be an invaluable addition to TNA’s broadcast team, and a good public face for the company. Plus, without having to go on the road as an active member of the roster, Foley’s TNA schedule would only require him to be in Orlando a couple of days a month, and conceivably travel to one pay per view each month.
Foley could be a big feather in TNA’s cap, but don’t expect the return of the Monday Night Wars anytime soon.
Comments (6)
As an aside on Feast or Fired, it was a bad match idea but you have to admit that it did springboard a lot of new concepts:
1. Chris Daniels' firing and the subsequent hiring of Curry Man
2. Petey "Maple Leaf Muscle" Williams' new gimmick and alliance with Scott Steiner and Rhaka Khan
3. Ironically, Chris Harris not wanting to be fired by avoiding going for cases...
4. BG James and Kip James going their separate ways
Sure, anyone can point and laugh at holes in reverse battle royals, King of the Mountain, Feast or Fired, and even going back to Ultimate X, but TNA usually finds a way to use these events as a catalyst that changes things within their own midcard.
Waaaay back in the Asylum days, TNA had warring factions, and the solution was a tag team tournament called Asylum Alliance. Partners were chosen "randomly", and it led to a BG James/Ron Killings teamup... which ended up including Konnan and becoming the 3 Live Kru, a very entertaining midcard gimmick that lasted for a few years and kept those three men from languishing as they would have under WWE booking.
@Craig
Yeah, but were any of those new concepts good ideas? Beyond breaking up the awful Voodoo Kin Mafia, no. Relegating Chris Daniels to a masked jobber continues to make absolutly no sense considering how over he was as the Fallen Angel.
And I'm not even going to get into the homoeroticism of the Little Petey Pump angle. Although Scott Steiner trying to show Petey what it took to be a champion when Petey had already held the title he eventually got was probably one of the most retarded things I've ever seen.
I think Foley is very versatile. He can wrestle a match if need be about twice a year if they need to make up a marquee match against Joe, Styles, or Abyss (yep, the one who took his old gimmick).
But definitely would love to see him replace Don West. I've always liked Tenay for his knowledge but he's been used a fool to put over those ridiculous bookings. Foley did impress as Smackdown announcer but I think he'd be most useful on the booking committee.
I'm sure you guys have worked with Foley, so I would like to hear some stories if you have, but I've read his books, and he's always came up with some cool ideas but most of it never materialized as he would've liked for whatever reasons. But I'm sure he'd help the booking out and he actually likes Russo, so I'm sure they could get along and try to get things turned around.
But I'm a huge Foley fan because of his passion, creativity, and so on. But I think what he'll help TNA in most is get them mainstream attention, not because he's an ex-WWE star, but because he's a former author. He's unlike Sting, Angle, Booker T, and others, in that regard. But honestly, I don't feel bad for TNA for their lack of ratings success because their booking isn't too good despite a very talented roster.
I loved TNA for a while but I quickly lost interest around 2006 because Vince McMahon became their top heel. After that point, TNA seemed to go through a phase where the goal was to get wrestling fans to "sample" the product, but I thought by that point most fans had sampled the product, and they did not care for it.
As such, I think bringing in Mick Foley without a defined purpose would further exile the fans looking to TNA as "The New Alternative" as the company was in 2002-2005. You are absolutely correct that the only way for TNA to boost their ratings (and filling that cup three-quarters full) is by making changes in the company itself, not in the roster. I like Craig's encouraging point; otherwise I would not have included the "without a defined purpose" caveat.
In my opinion, the biggest asset TNA has is that their wrestlers don't have the in-ring performance limitations WWE Superstars have. TNA needs to manifest it in a positive way, instead of minimalizing it without impact.
As for Mick Foley, his post-retirement purpose was best served by showing up now and again to feud with the likes of Randy Orton, then leave out of sight for months, and come back up to feud with a guy like Edge (of course, the older Foley gets, the harder it would be to hold his own).
I think what it all boils down to is that the current viewers will get more benefit out of Mick Foley in TNA than the company will.
TNA needs to stop being a sports entertainment show and refocus their energy on what made the company work during the years of the weekly pay per view. TNA has the 2 of the top future stars in the business in AJ Styles and Samoa Joe, but instead of letting them do what they do best, TNA tries to just be like WWE. The creative team seems completely out of touch with what most fans want in a rival promotion. Overbooking may have worked 10 years ago when wrestling was the thing to watch, but now most fans want to watch real athletes compete. It does not matter which past their prime WWE performer they sign because that is not what the audience is demanding. The audience wants wrestling - not gimmicks, not stipulations, not sports entertainment. Give me a 2 hour show with competitive wrestling matches and simple storylines, and that will be when the ratings begin to climb. Until then, it will not matter if its Foley, Flair, Race, Rhodes, or any other legend one wants to includes - the ratings and buyrates will hold steady.
Talk about bad booking a little while ago WWE had both the World and WWE titles contested in a HIAC on the same card now they will have 3 separate 5 man scramble matches on the same card. But still TNA should stop trying to book WWE style and go back to being an alternative. TNA booking needs work, however I grew up watching USWA and that's what TNA's booking reminds me of ( BTW Jeff Jarrett spent years in USWA)