...Wow.

Okay, this post is going to be a little different (I know, I keep changing it up on y'all. Just trying to find my niche.)


First of all, let me tell you a little bit about my wrestling background. I've only been watching wrestling for about two years now. I started with WWE, got sucked into TNA about a year and a half ago and ROH as of only the past couple of months.


So I'm pretty new around here. There's a lot of stuff I don't know, am not familiar with. I don't know how things in wrestling might be different now than how they were, if it was more than two years ago. But I am passionate about wrestling. I want you guys to know that. I love it. I love the matches that make your jaw drop, that make you hold your breath, that make you flail around and jump to your feet screaming. And I love the promos that make you laugh until you cry, the silly ones that make no sense, singing and dancing and throwing toilet paper at the heels. I love these guys. I love their stories and their passion and their talents and their struggle. A lot of people don't understand why anyone watches wrestling, much less a girl. This is why. All these things and so many other things I don't know how to say. 


TNA used to have these things.



Out of curiosity I set up a stopwatch to see exactly how much wrestling was on Impact tonight. 


Nine and a half minutes. NINE. AND A HALF. MINUTES.  Out of TWO. HOURS.


I don't know about you guys, but I'm assuming I'm in the vast majority when I say that I watch wrestling to WATCH WRESTLING. The occasional promo is okay, hell, you NEED promos now and then. I know that. You know that. Everybody knows that.


But out of a two hour show, 120 minutes, 110 of those minutes were PROMOS. That is not how you do it. Nobody watches wrestling to watch people TALK.


Let me break these matches down for you.


There was a 12 second knockouts "match" 45 minutes into the show. That was the first match.


There was Joe vs Abyss, which was about three and a half minutes. 


There was four members of Fortune against the Pope, which lasted another four minutes.


The main event, RVD vs. Anderson was the last two minutes of Impact plus the first eight minutes of ReAction. 


I... do not even have words. I am not exaggerating these numbers. If anything, I'm being a bit generous. I just can't even believe it. There are not even words for it. It's not disappointment, or anger, or anything. It is pure and simple disbelief. How does something like this happen? Who says "This is a good idea?" Who AGREES with that? How can you manage a wrestling company and think to yourself "Hmm, there's only ten minutes of wrestling booked for this two-hour show. Well, that's okay."


Think about the people in your audience, the people who paid good money to be in the Impact Zone, who maybe paid for the special Bound For Glory package, plus the BFG ticket. How can you do that to your fans? How can you look them in the face and expect them to give you more of their money? 


I started watching TNA because, pure and simple, it was good. There were tons of great matches, the women's division was so legit it hurt, and it didn't shy away at a little blood. Everything that WWE wasn't giving me at the time. It had plotlines. It had continuity. It wasn't the same old crap.


Then it became this... this trainwreck. At first it was like "Well, it isn't so bad." And then it became "Maybe it'll get better." Everyone started leaving. Daniels. Awesome Kong. Alissa Flash. ODB. Homicide. For a while it really was like watching a trainwreck. You really didn't want to watch but you couldn't look away. It became almost funny to see how low it had become.


It's not funny anymore. It's almost an insult. That Dixie, Bischoff, Hogan, Russo et al can put THIS kind of programming on television and think we'll swallow it. That is an insult. As a wrestling fan, I am insulted. 


Nine and a half minutes. There is no excuse for that. None.


To change direction a bit, it's no real surprise that TNA is struggling financially. (Putting the kind of shit that they have been in the past couple of months, NOBODY should be surprised.)


Well it's been reported that J-Woww netted $15k for her appearance on Impact and ReAction tonight. It boggles me -- BOGGLES ME -- that anyone thought that was a good idea.


Of all the things TNA could have done with that $15,000. They decide to give it to some no-name pseudo-celebrity to poorly beat Becky Bayless's head into the mat and pretend like she actually knows what TNA is and gives a shit.


The women's division in TNA used to be legit. ODB, Awesome Kong, Alissa Flash, Hamada, Sarita, Taylor Wilde. Even others that I just missed like Traci Brooks. The women had ACTUAL matches, they had ACTUAL talent. They weren't just there to look pretty, like the WWE Divas. They were there to wrestle. I loved that. As a female, I love to see women kicking ass. I loved TNA's women's division. I loved to see more than cookie-cutter bottle-blondes with fake tits. I loved it when they'd actually have mixed matches, like Hamada vs. Eric Young. They didn't have that on WWE! That was AWESOME.


And now, tonight, we had a twelve second match where Tara laid down and allowed Madison to get the pin. Or if you want to count Cookie and J-Woww. Which I hope you don't.


But I used to love TNA. I have been to so many live shows and have met so many awesome people. I've gotten the opportunities of a lifetime because TNA, because of wrestling in general. I've made so many friends. I've gotten the chance to meet and hang out with some of the guys. I HUGGED CHRIS SABIN. I could not ASK for anything more.

And because of this, it has been so hard to walk away. I feel like I can't just leave the guys. AJ, Eric Young, JB, Sabin, Shelley, Joe. What's happening now is not their fault. They do not have control. I don't want to... I don't know... punish them because The Powers That Be insist on feeding us this horseshit.


But I can't. I really... I really can't anymore. I could get entertainment out of a trainwreck, but I refuse to lower my standards and be entertained by the insult to wrestling TNA has become. I can't do it anymore. 


So I'm going to branch out, stick with my ROH and maybe start floating around in the indies. I got a lot of good links today from a fellow twitter wrestling fan and I'm going to see what they have to offer. I'm also trying to find some wrestling actually based in Ohio, so if any of you know some northeast Ohio wrestling promotions, please do let me know.