Keith Watanabe * NET 2.0

I haven't had a chance to check out their previous PPV, but after reading the reviews and the PPV itself, I didn't have a positive feeling.  I think like many people, I have a love-hate relationship with TNA.  I really enjoy watching their workers; the X-Division is fun and Christian has been a real blast to watch.  Of all the acquisitions, he's the one that really made the most of his situation and I think the company got something back from him.  That said, their PPVs and storylines can be really frustrating.  The past two PPVs and some of the TV were decent to good.  Nothing chart blowing but acceptable and even fun.  This PPV though obviously had some problems.  Maybe not just some...

• Three weeks worth of build up.  Or lack of build up.  I don't see a point of holding a PPV when you're given insufficient time to properly entice people into buying it.  TNA is better off giving up on these monthly PPVs, especially ones where they have limited time between PPVs.
• The obvious month-to-month booking.  TNA books only for their next PPV without thinking about long term development.  Certainly, injuries, attitudes and random factors can affect the long term booking, but outside of Gail Kim - Awesome Kong, no one on the card has any true developmental direction.  TNA needs to drop booking month-to-month with their only focus on trying to dish out cards for their next PPV and focus on 4-6 month intervals.  Take their items that are hot are becoming hot and draw up a plan so that in 4-6 months, their talent is at a higher level.
• Grabbing random past stars for the namesake alone.  Obviously, this is a huge issue in TNA, but there's only been a few name stars that signed a true contract.  If you are going to sign one of these guys up, then do something meaningful with them.  Not in all cases has this been bad.  But I can cite a few people that I think TNA regretted signing up.
• Sting.  I couldn't stand him here.  The first showing wasn't bad but once Russo came in, the angles got bizarre to stupid.  Sting's angles have generally been bad almost the entire time I've watched him.  He showed a few good moves here and there but in the end, did TNA get any positive value from his huge contract?  I don't believe so.  I think Sting needed to have his last match, not with Angle, but another superstar and really put that superstar over.  Abyss wasn't a good choice as Abyss is caught up in a perpetually stupid angle with no way out.  Other wrestlers like Chris Harris, James Storm, Christopher Daniels, or Senshi should've received the rub at the end with a major retirement match.  Instead, our last memories was just Booker T coming in and Sting leaving quietly.  Very bad calculation on TNA's part.
• TNA is Bitchfest.  There's a lot of controversy over Samoa Joe's so-called shoot on Scott Hall/Kevin Nash.  The truth is that TNA was dumb enough to expose its own business on PPV.  I think at this point, people are tired of hearing in TNA these wrestlers who just talk about being sick and tired.  People watch TNA for one reason: the action.  Sure, having angles is a good compliment, but the bottom line is that you want the action to come first.  Having wrestlers come in week in and week out bitching about not being pushed, politics, etc. gets tiresome and makes the wrestlers seem like hapless complainers.  We all complain about our jobs, not getting the money we deserve, how our boss never promotes us, or not getting the opportunities we deserve.  We've heard it a million times.  Thanks, move on.  But the thing that gets me isn't that fact, but the fact that you're letting people talk shit about your OWN PROMOTION.  You're saying that the people in the federation are has-beens and can't do anything.  Well, we all know that.  Why reinforce that opinion?  Why reinforce a negative stereotype that becomes a self fulfilling prophesy?  This type of interview for a company of this size serves no benefit.  It does the opposite.  I don't blame Samoa Joe for "going into business for himself."  More to him for taking advantage of a promotion who was stupid enough to encourage him to take potshots at someone who has enough problems as is.  Things like this alone is why Vince McMahon nevers has to worry about TNA.

One thing that WWE does really well and something Vince McMahon (and any smart business person understands) is the concept of branding.  Observe Steve Jobs and Apple.  He doesn't go about complaining about how his employees are terrible at conventions.  Instead, he emphasizes the products and what makes them good because he realizes the importance of branding.

McMahon (and the WWE) have always done this.  This is something that a lot of companies fail to understand.  What is your sense of identity?  WWE doesn't claim to be the best PURE wrestling organization.  They know that they are in the business of sports entertainment.  That alone allows them to describe to anyone what and who they are.  Their goal never has been to have their wrestlers put on 5* clinics at every show. If they do, great.  If they don't but the fans go home happy and buy more products, even better.

More than that, the WWE and McMahon religiously believe in itself.  When wrestlers do something stupid like post a message to BBSes, blogs, etc. the WWE reels them in fast to not expose their business.  That's a huge bonus point for the WWE because they know how to control their product (which partly are their wrestlers).

Allowing wrestlers to spout off especially on your PPV is not branding.  It's self-destruction because you're essentially admitting that your product sucks enough that a wrestler has to make an excuse not to show up.  More than that, you're allowing wrestlers to bury other wrestlers in such a way that's detrimental to the product.  Case in point Rikishi, the Dudleys on the X-Division, Samoa Joe ridiculing Scott Hall/Nash as being leeches and being over-the-hillers, etc.  In the last example, you're saying that you're stupidly employing rejects and paying them a shit load of money without having any benefit.  You can circulate a memo internally to warn people, but why tell your audience explicitly?

The sadder part for me was seeing the so-called firings of Senshi and Christopher Daniels.  These two are highly talented but they get shafted?  Do people realize how bad this comes off, especially after a PPV which ended on a down tone?

I think some of these problems are somewhat excusable in that these people are still learning the business.  But they really need to learn fast because I think everyone realizes that there's only so many chances you can get before people eventually give up on you.