History Headscratchers / TNA

->''"The main event of the evening was to feature Sting vs. the man who was probably the hottest merchandise seller and most popular wrestler the company ever had, Jeff Hardy. So they turned Jeff heel. [[http://www.wrestlecrap.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/5aXpg294Bf-2.png Bang.]]"''
-->--'''''Website/{{WrestleCrap}}''''' phoning it in, [[http://www.wrestlecrap.com/inductions/induction-hardyvssting/ "89 Seconds That Tell The Tale of TNA"]]

----
* Re: 7/15/10 and 7/22/10 Impact: So wait...a couple of ECW guys come out of nowhere and start beating up on TNA staffers, and then Dixie Carter comes out and says everything's hunky-dory because she "invited them"?
** I was hoping for a Heel turn for Dixie, but alas...
* The booking, well, in general, but for the woman's matches in particular, why can't they allow these '''wrestlers''' the opportunity to strut their stuff? But no, we need [[Wrestling/SarahStock Sarita]] in a thong and Wrestling/TheBeautifulPeople.
** To be fair, Sarita is a decent wrestler but I agree with you on TBP. They're Divas not wrestlers, bring back Alissa Flash, Roxxi and Awesome Kong!
*** I meant why the hell would you put a '''wrestler''' of Sarita's caliber in a thong...she's a whole lot more than {{Fanservice}}.
*** Sarita's ring attire barely qualifies as a thong. Wrestling/MadisonRayne is the Knockout Champion, a bitchy ScreamingWarrior. [[Wrestling/LisaMarieVaron Tara]] is a BadassBiker with an {{Animal Motif|s}}. Wrestling/TaylorWilde was a [[IHaveTheHighGround High Ground]] GenkiGirl. Wrestling/MickieJames is a PintSizedPowerhouse UnkemptBeauty with a hidden keg of UnstoppableRage. Yet all have wrestled in revealing outfits comparable to the Beautiful People, even complete with [[PantyShot upskirt value]] in some cases, including one of Madison's regular outfits. ''This is all while consistently telling stories and putting on matches good enough to put the vast majority of the current-era WWE Divas product to shame''. So it's not like any of the Knockouts, namely Sarita, who has worn the same revealing level of attire in different promotions before (just check a Sarah Stock Wrestling/{{SHIMMER}} photoshoot or two), are suddenly being told by creative that they're only good for booty-shaking.
* Why the hell was [[Wrestling/{{Rhyno}} Rhino]] painted as a bad guy for wanting to keep his job in the face of almost inevitable unemployment so he can care for his daughter?
** [[WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment Spoony]] declared that between this and the fact Rhino was able to beat up both Dreamer and RVD that same night (for, like, [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment the second consecutive week in a row]]), Dreamer and RVD lost the ability to ever be taken seriously again.
*** Frankly, thinking about it… between this and the aforementioned Fortune-[=EV2=] feud, [=EV2=]'s entire morality and momentum depended on the EnsembleDarkhorse nostalgia value of Wrestling/{{ECW}}. TNA anticipated, like with every other blast from the past they ever bring in, that the ECW influx would bring life and ratings to the program. When people failed to get behind [=EV2=] this way, the whole premise of it became a vacant shell and their booking reflected this.
* Wrestling/ChristopherDaniels losing his first name. Has there ever been ANY explanation as to why this happened?
** Even Daniels couldn't hide that he didn't like it in an interview.
*** It seems like at some point it became a yearly tradition to "fire" him and bring him back under a new identity. Wrestling/ChristopherDaniels was fired and came back as Curry Man. Curry Man was fired and came back as Suicide. The newest was with Daniels. It makes it no less moronic, but there did seem to be a pattern (however weak) to it.
*** Except he and other wrestlers kept using the full "Wrestling/ChristopherDaniels" name, including Wrestling/JeffJarrett when announcing his return.
*** It was never stated on-screen, but TNA forced a name change to "Daniels" so that they would have a name they could own the trademark on (for merchandise, promotions, etc.). It's essentially the same reason that WWE often forces their performers to take on new names even if they've become famous under another name.
*** I thought it was because of the Wrestling/ChrisBenoit tragedy, with TNA not wanting a version of the name "Chris" attracting the wrong kind of attention.
*** If that were the case then they would've changed Chris Sabin's name too.
* What is going on with Wrestling/RicFlair? Granted, it's always been part of his gimmick to be a little wacky, but as of late, he seems to have gone into Mae Young-esque borderline senile territory. Between the "Bros Icing Bros" thing and his behavior seeming to be more and more erratic, it seems like he's gone off the deep end (and it seems worse because he's supposed to be a mentor to Wrestling/AJStyles.)
* Why start booking an angle before you actually get the guys under contract? Somebody give me a rational answer to that question.
** 1.) They're idiots. No real argument there. 2.) Wrestling/KevinNash has played hardball with them in the past and always ended up signing. Wrestling/BookerT had Wellness strikes against him in WWE, and both openly complained about the schedule.
*** From the 2/14 Observer: Nash was actually signed to a contract early in 2011, and played hardball with Dixie Carter to get a release.
* A minor one. While watching Impact I'm becoming increasingly aware of the crowd chanting for Velvet during knockout matches. It was my impression that Velvet wasn't very popular. Are they doing this out of irony or is she more popular than I was lead to believe?
** It wasn't that she wasn't popular, more likely that her unpopularity was because she was a heel at the time.
** She still is. The TNA knockouts division has just devolved to BlackAndGrayMorality, so in comparison to Sarita or Madison she seems like a face.
** And some fans still can't truly buy her as a face over Sarita.
** Which brings me back to my original question. Why does the impact zone seem to love her so much?
** The impact zone is largely made up of hyped up tourists who really don't know what is going on and a few groups of long term TNA fans there to get themselves over. So it is a little easier to get pops from it than other arenas.
* Why does Russo likes so much to book matches with stuff in a pole?
** His reasoning is that a match with a gimmick will always be inherently better than a match without a gimmick. True, that doesn't entirely answer why ''poles'' have to be the gimmick in question, but it's a start.
* The whole Mexican America thing. Sure, it's tasteless, but the people they chose for it is missing the mark. The concept is simple; A bunch of pure-bloods Mexicans ([[CaptainObvious from Mexico]]), but none of them are from there. Anarquia is Mexican, to be fair, but from L.A., Rosita is Puerto Rican and from New York and Hernandez is partially Mexican, but also Puerto Rican and from Texas. And Sarita isn't even Hispanic at all, and is from Canada! It'd be like making a stable of children of pure-blood Nazis that came from Argentina, with a German guy from Wisconsin, a Austrian girl from Minnesota, a half-German half-Polish guy from Illinois and a girl from South Korea that looks kind of white.
** BRILLIANT!
** This is kind of a Latino version of InterchangeableAsianCultures. Since illegal immigration is a huge deal in America right now, TNA decides to try and be "relevant" and "contemporary" (in what might be one of the most tasteless ways possible, but that's another thing). They just grabbed the four people closest to Mexican they could find.
*** Wrestling/VinceRusso. Remember he was dumb enough to book a Team Canada with only one Canadian on it (something which Wrestling/LanceStorm still thinks was a stupid idea).
** There are even bigger problems with this thing than just that. Try the Mexican flag being kept hanging during whatever promo or match they come out for obstructing the view of a good quarter of the Impact Zone, or the fact that the Rita cousins are only in this group so they can do something without Rosita having to wrestle because she's obviously green and hard to take as a threat, or the fact that Sarita can't really do her thing among the Knockouts anymore because of it, or the fact that Hernandez has been a hazard to work with in the ring since returning to form this group, or that Anarquia has a name that would fit the concept of the group better than just himself, oh, and he absolutely sucks in every way imaginable that doesn't involve calling people gringos, which Wrestling/{{Konnan}} and Homicide did better anyway…
** Long story short? Yeah. ''[[TheyPlottedAPerfectlyGoodWaste The whole Mexican America thing.]]''
* If one of TNA's [=PPVs=] was named HardCORE Justice, why wasn't the matches in the card for 2011 have you know... hardcore stipulations?
** [[Series/{{Jeopardy}} I'll take Oxymoron for $1000, Alex]].
* So, Traci Brooks just slept with Bischoff to get a job, okay…but isn't Traci Brooks married to [[Wrestling/FrankieKazarian Kazarian]] in story as well as in real life? So why hasn't Kazarian or any other Fortune member (Fortune of course being the arch-rivals to Immortal) made a big deal about Eric Bischoff fucking one of their wives?
** Because that would be too much focus for a knockout, who were Dutch Mantel's pet project? Okay, that's not a good in-story reason but that's consistent with the booking. Really, let's go with Kazarian not looking back at that particularly episode and none of his buddies telling him since he doesn't need the added grief?
* So, to quote from the So Bad Its Horrible page, TNA decided to shoot an entire months worth of wrestling in the UK, where their champion Jeff Hardy isn't allowed because of a felony conviction. And rather than just having him drop the title prior to this tour to the UK, they kayfabe an injury and let him keep the title, "to keep [Hardy] happy so he wouldn't go and sign with WWE".
** Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't WWE have a wellness program that Hardy, given his past substance use, would presumably flunk? If they bothered signing him at all?
** The Wellness Program only kicks in if you actually ''fail'' a test. Hardy, to his credit, has been clean for over a year since his humiliating performance at Victory Road 2011. Furthermore, Hardy still carries drawing power in the Wrestling/{{WWE}} (being a long-time WWE wrestler and former World champ) and his signing would be a significant loss to TNA.
* How would Wrestling/BobbyRoode not know what it means to be the metaphorical 'bigger man'? I doubt he was referring to the metaphor when he argued with Wrestling/AustinAries about whom it was - unless Aries was being condescending when he explained it?
* Will they ever explain why Joe & Low-Ki decided to join M.V.P.'s entourage?
** Considering that Joe left the company shortly after the angle started, probably not.
** Consider you watch TNA for the first time, see this power stable called The Beat Down Clan, and then see some guy whose entrance music contains the words "beat down". You'd probably be wondering why he wasn't with them, so from that perspective it probably made sense to add Joe, and rather than explain why he and Low Ki broke up(even though there was already a pretty good one with Ki snatching the X Division title belt in Joe's absence) they just let them stay together when Joe moved into the group. Granted, that's not an excuse for not explaining it to the people already watching iMPACT who remember Joe and M.V.P. not getting along but there probably wasn't much thought put into it.
** There's also the RealitySubtext in that MVP, Samoa Joe, Low Ki, and Homicide have been calling themselves "the Wu-Tang of Pro Wrestling" for years and the BDC was their opportunity to all gang together as an official stable.
* What's the point of having a TNA Hall of Fame? I mean, I know it's supposed to honor those who made major contributions to the history of TNA, but almost all of the inductees made their fame ''before'' coming to TNA and didn't add much besides credibility and star power. In fact, none of the stuff they accomplished in TNA is well-known outside of the core fan base - it's not like they were instrumental in causing some altering decisions that put the company towards a new direction besides opening a floodgate of old-timers into the promotion. The sole exception is perhaps Jeff Jarrett, and that's because he's the ''founder'' of the promotion. The rest (Team 3D, Kurt Angle, Sting) are still more known for stuff outside of TNA. Hell, even Earl Hebner is more known for the Montreal Screwjob than anything else.
** Kurt Angle was half of TNA's most money making program, though by that logic Samoa Joe should be in right next to him...but Joe wasn't the one who brought the IWGP Heavyweight Title belt around his shoulders. Not implying it's well handled but the point of it ''is'' to thank those who contributed to the company's longevity. Sting may not have done much, and may have been in fact part of the worst, or at least contender for the most infamous match in company history, but it largely wasn't his fault, so it could be a thank you for sticking around through so much crap. Team 3D brought the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team titles to TNA, and while that run was the beginning of the end of TNA's deal with New Japan, the negative fallout was not Team 3D's fault, so that could be another thank you\apology for Team 3D enduring through crap when they could have easily departed. The point seems to be convincing the big names that they didn't waste their time, that when TNA becomes the great company people say it has\had the potential to become they will look back on the hall of fame and see you were a part of making it great.

** Kurt Angle was half of TNA's most money making program, though by that logic Samoa Joe should be in right next to him...but Joe wasn't the one who brought the IWGP Heavyweight Title belt around his shoulders. Not implying it's well handled but the point of it ''is'' to thank those who contributed to the company's longevity. Sting may not have done much, and may have been in fact part of the worst, or at least contender for the most infamous match in company history, but it largely wasn't his fault, so it could be a thank you for sticking around through so much crap. Team 3D brought the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team titles to TNA, and while that run was the beginning of the end of TNA's deal with New Japan, it the negative fallout was not Team 3D's fault, so that could be another thank you\apology for Team 3D enduring through crap when they could have easily departed. The point seems to be convincing the big names that they didn't waist their time, that when TNA becomes the great company people say it has\had the potential to become they will look back on the hall of fame and see you were a part of making it great.

** Kurt Angle was half of TNA's most money making program, though by that logic Samoa Joe should be in right next to him. Not implying it's well handled but the point of it ''is'' to thank those who contributed to the company's longevity. Sting may not have done much, and may have been in fact part of the worst, or at least contender for the most infamous match in company history, but it largely wasn't his fault, so it could be a thank you for sticking around through so much crap. Team 3D brought the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team titles to TNA, and while that run was the beginning of the end of TNA's deal with New Japan, it the negative fallout was not Team 3D's fault, so that could be another thank you\apology for Team 3D enduring through crap when they could have easily departed.

* What's the point of having a TNA Hall of Fame? I mean, I know it's supposed to honor those who made major contributions to the history of TNA, but almost all of the inductees made their fame ''before'' coming to TNA and didn't add much besides credibility and star power. In fact, none of the stuff they accomplished in TNA is well-known outside of the core fan base - it's not like they were instrumental in causing some altering decisions that put the company towards a new direction besides opening a floodgate of old-timers into the promotion. The sole exception is perhaps Jeff Jarrett, and that's because he's the ''founder'' of the promotion. The rest (Team 3D, Kurt Angle, Sting) are still more known for stuff outside of TNA. Hell, even Earl Hebner is more known for the Montreal Screwjob than anything else.

** His reasoning is that a match with a gimmick will always be inherently better than a match without a gimmick. True, that doesn't entirely answer why ''poles'' have to the gimmick in question, but it's a start.
* The whole Mexican America thing. Sure, it's tasteless, but the people they chose for it is missing the mark. The concept is simple; A bunch of pure-bloods Mexicans ([[CaptainObvious from Mexico]]), but none of them are from there. Anarquia is Mexican, to be fair, but from L.A., Rosita is Puerto Rican and from New York and Hernandez is partially Mexican, but also Puerto Rican and from Texas. And Sarita isn't even Hispanic at all, and is from Canada! It'd be like making a stable of children of pure-blood Nazis that came from Argentina, with a German guy from Wisconsin, a Austrian girl from Minnesota, a half-German half-Polish guy from Illinos and a girl from South Korea that looks kind of white.

** Because that would be too much focus for a knockout, who were Dutch Mantel's pet project? Okay, that's not a good in-story reason but that's consistent with the booking.

* The booking, well, in general, but for the woman's matches in particular, why can't they allow these '''wrestlers''' the opportunity to strut their stuff? But no, we need Sarita in a thong and the Beautiful People.

*** Sarita's ring attire barely qualifies as a thong. Madison Rayne is the Knockout Champion, a bitchy ScreamingWarrior. Tara is a BadassBiker with an {{Animal Motif|s}}. Taylor Wilde was a [[IHaveTheHighGround High Ground]] GenkiGirl. Mickie James is a PintSizedPowerhouse UnkemptBeauty with a hidden keg of UnstoppableRage. Yet all have wrestled in revealing outfits comparable to the Beautiful People, even complete with [[PantyShot upskirt value]] in some cases, including one of Madison's regular outfits. ''This is all while consistently telling stories and putting on matches good enough to put the vast majority of the current-era WWE Divas product to shame''. So it's not like any of the Knockouts, namely Sarita, who has worn the same revealing level of attire in different promotions before (just check a Sarah Stock Wrestling/{{SHIMMER}} photoshoot or two), are suddenly being told by creative that they're only good for booty-shaking.

* So, Traci Brooks just slept with Bischoff to get a job, okay...but isn't Traci Brooks married to Kazarian in story as well as in real life? So why hasn't Kazarian or any other Fortune member (Fortune of course being the archrivals to Immortal) made a big deal about Eric Bischoff fucking one of their wives?

** Considering that Joe left the company shortly after the angle started, probably not.

* Will they ever explain why Joe & Low-Ki decided to join M.V.P.'s entourage?

* How would Wrestling/BobbyRoode not know what it means to be the metaphorical 'bigger man'? I doubt he was referring to the metaphor when he argued with Wrestling/AustinAries about whom it was - unless Aries was being condescending when he explained it?

** The IZ is basically a pack of inbred hillbillies that care more about getting themselves over then the product. Or a pack of casual fans are like "Dur hur, BOOBS" or it's a pack of smarks trying to fuck with the company by cheering somebody that isn't really over.

* Why the hell was Rhino painted as a bad guy for wanting to keep his job in the face of almost inevitable unemployment so he can care for his daughter?

*** Sarita's ring attire barely qualifies as a thong. Madison Rayne is the Knockout Champion, a bitchy ScreamingWarrior. Tara is a BadassBiker with an AnimalMotif. Taylor Wilde was a [[IHaveTheHighGround High Ground]] GenkiGirl. Mickie James is a PintSizedPowerhouse UnkemptBeauty with a hidden keg of UnstoppableRage. Yet all have wrestled in revealing outfits comparable to the Beautiful People, even complete with [[PantyShot upskirt value]] in some cases, including one of Madison's regular outfits. ''This is all while consistently telling stories and putting on matches good enough to put the vast majority of the current-era WWE Divas product to shame''. So it's not like any of the Knockouts, namely Sarita, who has worn the same revealing level of attire in different promotions before (just check a Sarah Stock Wrestling/{{SHIMMER}} photoshoot or two), are suddenly being told by creative that they're only good for booty-shaking.

* The whole Mexican America thing. Sure, it's tasteless, but the people they chose for it is missing the mark. The concept is simple; A bunch of pure-bloods Mexicans ([[CaptainObvious from Mexico]]), but none of them are from there. Anarquia is Mexican, to be fair, but from L.A., Rosita is Puerto Rican and from New York and Hernandez is partially Mexican, but also Puerto Rican and from Texas. And Sarita is even Hispanic at all, and is from Canada! It'd be like making a stable of children of pure-blood Nazis that came from Argentina, with a German guy from Wisconsin, a Austrian girl from Minnesota, a half-German half-Polish guy from Illinos and a girl from South Korea that looks kind of white.

** This is kind of a Latino version of AllAsiansAreAlike. Since illegal immigration is a huge deal in America right now, TNA decides to try and be "relevant" and "contemporary" (in what might be one of the most tasteless ways possible, but that's another thing). They just grabbed the four people closest to Mexican they could find.

*** I meant why the hell would you put a '''wrestler''' of Sarita's caliber in a thong...she's a whole lot more than FanService.
*** Sarita's ring attire barely qualifies as a thong. Madison Rayne is the Knockout Champion, a bitchy ScreamingWarrior. Tara is a BadassBiker with an AnimalMotif. Taylor Wilde was a [[IHaveTheHighGround High Ground]] GenkiGirl. Mickie James is a PintSizedPowerhouse UnkemptBeauty with a hidden keg of UnstoppableRage. Yet all have wrestled in revealing outfits comparable to the Beautiful People, even complete with [[PantyShot upskirt value]] in some cases, including one of Madison's regular outfits. ''This is all while consistently telling stories and putting on matches good enough to put the vast majority of the current-era WWE Divas product to shame''. So it's not like any of the Knockouts, namely Sarita, who has worn the same revealing level of attire in different promotions before (just check a Sarah Stock SHIMMER photoshoot or two), are suddenly being told by creative that they're only good for booty-shaking.

** [[TheSpoonyExperiment Spoony]] declared that between this and the fact Rhino was able to beat up both Dreamer and RVD that same night (for, like, [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment the second consecutive week in a row]]), Dreamer and RVD lost the ability to ever be taken seriously again.
*** Frankly, thinking about it… between this and the aforementioned Fortune-[=EV2=] feud, [=EV2=]'s entire morality and momentum depended on the EnsembleDarkhorse nostalgia value of {{ECW}}. TNA anticipated, like with every other blast from the past they ever bring in, that the ECW influx would bring life and ratings to the program. When people failed to get behind [=EV2=] this way, the whole premise of it became a vacant shell and their booking reflected this.
* ChristopherDaniels losing his first name. Has there ever been ANY explanation as to why this happened?

*** It seems like at some point it became a yearly tradition to "fire" him and bring him back under a new identity. ChristopherDaniels was fired and came back as Curry Man. Curry Man was fired and came back as Suicide. The newest was with Daniels. It makes it no less moronic, but there did seem to be a pattern (however weak) to it.
*** Except he and other wrestlers kept using the full "ChristopherDaniels" name, including JeffJarrett when announcing his return.
*** It was never stated on-screen, but TNA forced a name change to "Daniels" so that they would have a name they could own the copyright on (for merchandise, promotions, etc.). It's essentially the same reason that WWE often forces their performers to take on new names even if they've become famous under another name.
* What is going on with RicFlair? Granted, it's always been part of his gimmick to be a little wacky, but as of late, he seems to have gone into Mae Young-esque borderline senile territory. Between the "Bros Icing Bros" thing and his behavior seeming to be more and more erratic, it seems like he's gone off the deep end (and it seems worse because he's supposed to be a mentor to AJStyles.)

** 1.) They're idiots. No real argument there. 2.) KevinNash has played hardball with them in the past and always ended up signing. BookerT had Wellness strikes against him in WWE, and both openly complained about the schedule.

** The IZ is basically a pack of inbred hill billies that care more about getting themselves over then the product. Or a pack of casual fans are like "Dur hur, BOOBS" or it's a pack of smarks trying to fuck with the company by cheering somebody that isn't really over.

** There are even bigger problems with this thing than just that. Try the Mexican flag being kept hanging during whatever promo or match they come out for obstructing the view of a good quarter of the Impact Zone, or the fact that the Rita cousins are only in this group so they can do something without Rosita having to wrestle because she's obviously green and hard to take as a threat, or the fact that Sarita can't really do her thing among the Knockouts anymore because of it, or the fact that Hernandez has been a hazard to work with in the ring since returning to form this group, or that Anarquia has a name that would fit the concept of the group better than just himself, oh, and he absolutely sucks in every way imaginable that doesn't involve calling people gringos, which Konnan and Homicide did better anyway…

* So, to quote from the So Bad Its Horrible page, TNA decided to shoot a entire months worth of wrestling in the UK, where their champion Jeff Hardy isn't allowed because of a felony conviction. And rather than just having him drop the title prior to this tour to the UK, they kayfabe an injury and let him keep the title, "to keep [Hardy] happy so he wouldn't go and sign with WWE".

* How would Bobby Roode not know what it means to be the metaphorical 'bigger man'? I doubt he was referring to the metaphor when he argued with Austin Aries about whom it was - unless Aries was being condescending when he explained it?

*** VinceRusso. Remember he was dumb enough to book a Team Canada with only one Canadian on it (something which LanceStorm still thinks was a stupid idea).

** The Wellness Program only kicks in if you actually ''fail'' a test. Hardy, to his credit, has been clean for over a year since his humiliating performance at Victory Road 2011. Furthermore, Hardy still carries drawing power in the {{WWE}} (being a long-time WWE wrestler and former World champ) and his signing would be a significant loss to TNA.

**** Except he and other wrestlers kept using the full "ChristopherDaniels" name, including JeffJarrett when announcing his return.

* How would Bobby Roode not know what it means to be the metaphorical 'bigger man'? I doubt he was referring to the metaphor when he argued with Austin Aries about whom it was.