The internet wrestling community is more biased than I’ve seen it in a long, long time. As I’ve looked around the internet wrestling community since this site opened its online doors back in January 2010, I can’t help but to be floored by the people who are completely dead-set against anything that Eric Bischoff or Hulk Hogan try to implement in TNA. Sure, they’ve made missteps, just as any organization makes. However, I wouldn’t expect many of the young kids or unemployable people that write about wrestling on the internet to understand how businesses function.
What I would expect, though, is some continuity in basic trains of thought. For example, I’ve read for months about how almost everything that Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff are doing with Vince Russo’s writing in TNA is a rehash of an old WCW or WWE gimmick. Is this true? Well, I’d argue that there’s no way that it can’t be true since the basic concept of professional wrestling hasn’t changed in thousands of years – good guy vs. bad guy (or some extension thereof).
But what makes me shake my head and helps me understand that there is essentially no chance for many of the online marks is the fact that they reserve this “we’ve seen it before” judgment for TNA and TNA alone. Where is the internet outrage over this completely ludicrous “invasion” angle that WWE is attempting with its NXT season one “rookies” taking over RAW? I haven’t seen a bigger ripoff of an invasion angle since the “ECW” invasion of RAW, which took place during the “WCW” invasion of RAW, which copied the nWo invasion of WCW, which – in turn – was copied off of a Japanese wrestling company!
That last sentence was meant to show the absurdity of someone saying that TNA is copying old WWE and WCW angles. If you didn’t get the humor in it, trying unplugging your head from your ass and coming down to join the rest of us in the real world.
Look folks – if you’re one of the masses who has spent any time in the last five months complaining that any part of TNA’s programming is a direct copy of an old WCW or WWE angle, then you owe it to the respect of your own words to admit that WWE is copying an old Japanese, WCW, and even their own WWE-based invasion storyline. If you can’t admit that to yourself, then you need to seriously consider whether you have Bischoff or Hogan Derangement Syndrome (i.e. anything that either of these guys do you hate without giving it a chance for success; see – Palin Derangement Syndrome and more notably Bush Derangement Syndrome).
The bigger point that I’d like to get across in this column, though, is that any of this type of anger or consternation over a recycled storyline is absurd. Quite frankly, if you’re mad at TNA because The Band (before it was disbanded) was a poor man’s replica of the nWo, then you don’t “get” this whole professional wrestling business. Similarly, if you find that you’re upset over the NXT “invasion” of RAW, then as Bubba the Love Sponge might say, you need to “learn how to work, kid.”
Everything in professional wrestling is copied from something else in professional wrestling. Everything. It’s rare that breakout stars come out of nowhere because of their natural charisma (Hulk Hogan, The Rock, the early days of Ric Flair, Superstar Billy Graham, etc). So, in light of the fact that the internet wrestling community has shown its anti-TNA hand by not condemning WWE recycling a 10+ year old invasion angle, can we all agree to stop ripping on TNA for allegedly recycling old WCW and WWE angles? Can we at least reach that consensus?
If not, then the internet wrestling community has a much more serious problem than we can even begin to fathom…
– Joe
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And as you typed that, TNA was taping an ECW invasion angle for the next few weeks of Impact. LOL.
I expect the “gotcha!” comment from a WWE mark like yourself my dear friend, but you’re absolutely right! The difference, though, is that the internet marks will go bonkers once TNA’s ECW invasion takes place. All we’ll read about online is how this has been done before and TNA is copying yet another storyline, etc. Meanwhile, nothing will be said about the NXT invasion of RAW.
It’s unfortunate, but there is a double-standard with the online wrestling community. This community is packed with WWE marks who find fault with nearly everything TNA does – even when WWE does the same exact things!
You should know better than to call me a WWE mark! However, I totally agree with what you said – I believe that TNA is an easier target for a lot of Internet marks because it’s easier to pick on the smaller company. I do agree with a lot of criticism towards the company myself, but I don’t see how the same people can’t find it within themselves to give WWE the same amount of criticism when deserved!
I don’t really want to discuss the NXT invasion on RAW because I have the feeling you’re going off a RAW report you read or probably a video of highlights you saw? I’m pretty sure you didn’t see the entire show? (It was horrible except for the invasion angle, by the way!) It’s hard to talk WWE if you haven’t seen a whole episode in a long time because their product has changed drastically. I don’t think it’s for the better, either! What I will say is that the invasion was nothing like any other invasion angles done before which is why it received so much attention online. Other than the concept of “invading,” everything was a nice touch because it hasn’t been done in this fashion before. Although I think you made wonderful points about WWE criticism, I find it unfair to blame them for this angle because it was the best TV they’ve done in a long time, and that’s coming from someone who is far from being a WWE mark!
I actually did watch the entire invasion on WWE.com and on some YouTube clips because I wanted to see what all of the hoopla was about, so undermining my argument that way won’t work. Sorry, bud. And the invasion angle has been done this way before, too (I recall Scott Hall walking through the crowd to begin the nWo).
And you’re still a WWE mark, you just don’t realize it. 😉
Joe this is the best column i have read in years. i am so sick of the internet fan always hating on TNA. I just miss Pro Wrestling Fans. Keep up the good work man.
Thanks for the comment, Alex. I’ll continue to do my best on TNAStars. com.
The problem with many of these internet fans is that they don’t know how to be regular wrestling fans any more. They get dragged down into the minutiae of every single aspect of every single show and, in the process, don’t actually watch the entire show as a wrestling fan! They look for people to win matches because of backstage politics and not for entertainment reasons. But what gets me the most is that they look down upon regular wrestling fans and call them a proposed derogatory term like “marks” when, in fact, these internet fans are the biggest marks on the planet!
Ah… Some people can’t see the forest for the trees. Thanks again for the comment, Alex!
IT SHOULD BE SAMOA JOE VS U JOE//FANS WILL CHANT JOE’S GONNA KILL U//BUT WHICH JOE//????///(:
ENOUGH JOKING//
REALLY GREAT COLUMN//VERY WELL WRITTEN//IF HOT ROD COMES TO WWE THEY WILL SAY WOW HE IS A LEGEND GIVE HIM SOME RESPECT//WWE IS SO GREAT THEY BRING BACK LEGENDS LIKE THIS//BUT IF TNA DOES THE SAME//OHH TNA GOT ANOTHER WASHED UP GUY//I REALLY LIKE TO SEE THE PRODUCT AND ENJOY//RATHER THAN BASH OR COMMENT ON SOMETHING//BUT THIS COLUMN MADE ME TO DO IT////BECAUSE U SAID NOTHING BUT THE PURE TRUTH//BUT THIS JOE REALLY GONNA KILL INTERNET MARKS///(:
I KNOW RHINO IS UNDER CONTRACT//CAN U TELL THAT IS RHINO IS BEING PAID BY TNA FROM LAST 6 MONTHS//??/////BY THE WAY KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK//
Thanks, CHARU. Sometimes I get really fed up with the unabashed hatred and downright silliness that so many of the online TNA-haters spew. It’s boring and, for my money, a lazy attempt by some of these online folks to say something with some impact (pardon the pun).
I think Rhino is paid on a per appearance basis, but I’m not sure. Thanks again for the comment!