We already had Lashley vs Jeff Cobb at Wrestlecon Super show last year and it was less than stellar. Once they announced that it was for the TNA world title most people knew that we were getting half assed Bobby. I don't see him as a guy who wants to prove himself as a wrestler like a Galloway or Swagger or Cody. He wants to make the most money

Lashley had some really good to great matches during his TNA Title run in 2016 against a variety of opponents. Also delivered his best ever mic work with some killer promos and character work.

They announced a Twitch channel, which my first thought is "well at least that's a positive revenue stream", only to see as of yesterday it was still not a partnered channel. So they created a potential revenue stream with no way for people to spend money on it.

We already had Lashley vs Jeff Cobb at Wrestlecon Super show last year and it was less than stellar. Once they announced that it was for the TNA world title most people knew that we were getting half assed Bobby. I don't see him as a guy who wants to prove himself as a wrestler like a Galloway or Swagger or Cody. He wants to make the most money

You say "half assed" and I immediately think of Jeff Cobb, not Lashley. In my limited viewing of him Cobb is a dude who is good for like two really cool power spots and then very little effort the rest of the way. I also saw Swagger have the most boring no effort match for NEW against Warbeard Hanson that was probably in front of the biggest crowd he's worked in his post-WWE indie run so I'm not sure he belongs in that category either.

Definitely disappointed to discover that they're letting themselves lose Lashley. The guy's undergone such a drastic transformation under their watch over the course of the past several years. He's been an absolute highlight - one of the few constants, really. Just such a beast.

 

I realize they're restructuring the roster and asking unique things of their guys going forward, but losing Lashley is a major net loss for them in my eyes.

 

It's astounding, really. Just going back and tracking his transformation was like experiencing it all over again. His transformation was so sudden and out of nowhere - it's practically downright illogical when you think about it. Like, basically, the guy disappears from the scene for a handful of years, works nowhere, and just barrels back onto the field, and he's fully formed as this polished performer. It's like he developed out of sight, overnight somewhere. It's just baffling.

 

I've seen some posters give him his due here, which is refreshing and the reason I wanted to chime in about it here. But yeah. Lashley's been killing it since way back in 2014 for TNA. The Slammiversary show that year, the Manhattan Center match with Jeff Hardy that summer, the Destination X defense against Aries (still perhaps his best ALL-AROUND performance, to be honest), the trilogy with Roode at the end of that year, the series with a worn & weary Kurt Angle, his feud with Drew Galloway, his rivalry with EC3, and on & on & on all go to his credit.

 

Lashley felt like a real force for them, at various points im time when almost nothing else did. The dude simply became everything you'd want in a main event level, big fight performer.

 

Somewhere out there - in some alternate universe - all the right puzzle pieces came together perfectly way back in 2007, and Lashley was able to build off the back of that Trump hair match endorsement to become a legitimate breakout superstar. There's no way of knowing if he could've gotten this good that early, of course. But hey. The fantasy would've also required Donald getting his fucking name right in the buildup, too. So, ya know. There's also that.

Funny thing about Lashley, is that there's a good chance he only existed in the WWE in the first place because they got turned down by Bob Sapp and seemingly decided to "create their own".

But hey. The fantasy would've also required Donald getting his fucking name right in the buildup, too. So, ya know. There's also that.

How did he mess up Lashleys name?

 

But hey. The fantasy would've also required Donald getting his fucking name right in the buildup, too. So, ya know. There's also that.

How did he mess up Lashleys name?

 

Trump called him "“Bobby Lindsay...[a] black gentleman, and the strongest man I’ve ever seen.”

Definitely disappointed to discover that they're letting themselves lose Lashley. The guy's undergone such a drastic transformation under their watch over the course of the past several years. He's been an absolute highlight - one of the few constants, really. Just such a beast.

 

I realize they're restructuring the roster and asking unique things of their guys going forward, but losing Lashley is a major net loss for them in my eyes.

 

It's astounding, really. Just going back and tracking his transformation was like experiencing it all over again. His transformation was so sudden and out of nowhere - it's practically downright illogical when you think about it. Like, basically, the guy disappears from the scene for a handful of years, works nowhere, and just barrels back onto the field, and he's fully formed as this polished performer. It's like he developed out of sight, overnight somewhere. It's just baffling.

 

I've seen some posters give him his due here, which is refreshing and the reason I wanted to chime in about it here. But yeah. Lashley's been killing it since way back in 2014 for TNA. The Slammiversary show that year, the Manhattan Center match with Jeff Hardy that summer, the Destination X defense against Aries (still perhaps his best ALL-AROUND performance, to be honest), the trilogy with Roode at the end of that year, the series with a worn & weary Kurt Angle, his feud with Drew Galloway, his rivalry with EC3, and on & on & on all go to his credit.

 

Lashley felt like a real force for them, at various points im time when almost nothing else did. The dude simply became everything you'd want in a main event level, big fight performer.

 

Great post! Agreed 100%, really was a hell of a 3-4 year run for him. I think of all the recent exits, Lashley's is the biggest loss for Impact to me.

What if I told you all that I thought Impact last night was a really entertaining well put together show and I'm going to watch it again next week? No one has hated TNA over the past 15 years more than me, every time I see this thread title in my head I say "yes, absolutely, no discussion". But I'm intrigued by what Don Callis can bring to this thing. He's been around wrestling forever. For a year he's been ringside for these NJPW shows that resonate with hardcore fans more than seemingly anything. He's a smart guy, he was the CEO of Manitoba Trade and Investment, I don't know exactly what that is but feels like you have to be smart to do it. I'm not saying I'm 100% committed to this company but I'm intrigued. Lots of intriguing things happening in wrestling right now, great time to be a fan.

What if I told you all that I thought Impact last night was a really entertaining well put together show and I'm going to watch it again next week? No one has hated TNA over the past 15 years more than me, every time I see this thread title in my head I say "yes, absolutely, no discussion". But I'm intrigued by what Don Callis can bring to this thing. He's been around wrestling forever. For a year he's been ringside for these NJPW shows that resonate with hardcore fans more than seemingly anything. He's a smart guy, he was the CEO of Manitoba Trade and Investment, I don't know exactly what that is but feels like you have to be smart to do it. I'm not saying I'm 100% committed to this company but I'm intrigued. Lots of intriguing things happening in wrestling right now, great time to be a fan.

They'll probably replace him with Russo in two months?

I can appreciate the enthusiasm, but TNA has been much better than this for longer (albeit still abbreviated) points in the recent past. I'd like to see 'em turn things around, but yeah. I'd pump the brakes before I invested too much hope into it just yet. Let's wait and see where they're at after the Redemption PPV or so.

 

I will say this though - I feel like they've got to get away from the concept of doing their TV tapings in bulk. It just saps any sense of excitement or unpredictability from the product.

Believe me I'm not emotionally investing into this group yet, that would take at least 6 months of competence. I'm intrigued. It's something to pay attention to.

TNA may be responsible for the original lineup of Smashing Pumpkins going on tour for the first time in ages. Billy pretty much implied his wrestling adventures hurt his bottom line.

No D'Arcy, no "original lineup".

 

Dixie Carter has to be the most improbable reason invoked for a rock band reunion tour though.

 

As far as TNA goes, I'm still in 2008. And there are some good stuff there, still.

Did Billy imply that himself? Because D'Arcy is the one making the claim, not that it's overly difficult to believe. But I'm not really sure D'Arcy's word is 100% reliable either.

The contenders:

 

- WCW 2000 had some vastly entertaining B-shows.

 

- GLOW wasn't really supposed to be any sort of serious wrestling.

 

- Herb Abrams' UWF had some decent stuff on and off w/ Doc, Gordy, Cactus, etc.

 

- Florida in '87 was a huge decline from the glory years, but you still had good stuff w/ guys like the Sheepherders and Bad News Allen.

 

- XPW had good stuff sprinkled throughout the card during its whole run and was perfectly fine for its last several months.

 

- ECW in 2000 had Tajiri-Psicosis, the tag tournament, and Chris Hamrick.

 

- The AWF didn't last long and had some decent stuff w/ Adams, Tito, & Orton.

What about Central States? How did this promotion with the same stale talent, boring tv and several years of not drawing at the house shows survive as long as they did?

Didn't Anthem pay back Corgan's TNA investment?

Didn't Anthem pay back Corgan's TNA investment?

 

That's...a good point.

And then immediately after that Billy went and bought the NWA. No idea how much he paid for it but it's not like he got that money and then put it all back in his bank account.

Plus was it make clear that he just got his intial investment back or that plus whatever it cost to run while he was funding however many tapings he did while Dixie was stringing him along.

And then immediately after that Billy went and bought the NWA. No idea how much he paid for it but it's not like he got that money and then put it all back in his bank account.

But how much was that ten, twenty, ten dollars?

I can't imagine it was THAT cheap considering Billy also bought the Houston footage from Bruce Tharpe who put a lot of his own money into it and could have at least kept that to sell to WWE in a separate deal.

It seems Lashley indeed agreed to terms with WWE.

 

Nice.

WWF Attitude for was the worst since its has not aged well to my eyes and its less than 20 years old anything that is good ages well WWF Attitude era and plus the in ring stuff which is the only thing I care for was shiit ie it has not aged well