Joe’s Gonna Kill You: Samoa Joe to WWE?

Huge news regarding TNA superstar Samoa Joe. Is there a possibility of him coming to WWE? I look into the future and analyze why most wrestlers hate TNA.

Now this is obviously far away in the future…but it is nice to think about. Samoa Joe just recently turned down a 3-year contract extension with TNA, and apparently TNA has been trying to make a deal with him for some time now. It is reported that Joe wanted a raise, but was very angry when he found out that he could only get the raise after he agreed to the 3-year contract extension. There is no word on the possibility of Samoa Joe jumping ship yet, and in fact he might use the “I’m going to leave” thing to gain more money.

If he did jump ship and go to WWE, what would all of this mean? I’ll tell you what it would mean. Half of the people who work for TNA are not satisfied with TNA. Think about it…recently Konnan and Ron Killings left, Samoa Joe declined a contract extension, Senshi asked for his release (but was turned down), and morale is apparently terrible backstage.

If I may quote the PW Torch:

“The current backstage morale in Orlando can best be described as "terrible". Most of the TNA roster (including top talent) is unhappy with how bad the booking has been for quite some time. There is no faith that the writing will improve any time soon and there is a shared consensus that changes are needed. With recent rumors that Jeff Jarrett is slated for another run with the TNA World title in the coming months, many are losing faith that the company is even on the verge of heading in the right direction.”

I read about one report just like this every week or two.
Konnan was recently on a radio show and was asked why he left TNA, and he said:

“A combination of five years of lies building up and not getting paid enough money.”

Now that I am done hating on TNA, I’ll get back to Samoa Joe…

If Samoa Joe comes to WWE then I would say he should go to Smackdown. Have him boost the “B” show for awhile then maybe move him to RAW after a few years. Think about bringing him in as a face and having the following feuds:

Samoa Joe vs. MVP
Samoa Joe vs. Edge
Samoa Joe vs. (bring him from ECW) CM Punk

Or on RAW:

Samoa Joe vs. John Cena
Samoa Joe vs. Randy Orton
Samoa Joe vs. Mr. Kennedy

Just incase you didn’t know, Samoa Joe is a GREAT wrestler. He became the face of Ring of Honor, and took part in 2 of Dave Meltzer’s extremely rare 5-star matches while he was in Ring of Honor (vs. CM Punk and vs. Kenta Kobashi). That is why he would be great in WWE. If he and CM Punk had a Cena-Edge length feud then TNA would be blown off the map. If you want to see some classic Samoa Joe in ROH then please watch the youtube video of him vs. CM Punk...Part 1...Part 2...Part 3

Comments/predictions anyone?

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WWE or TNA? I Want Your Take

Yes…I am going to post another opinion question (except this will be longer). I know that we technically don’t cover TNA on this website, but after seeing two videos that were posted on nodq.com (see the “excitement” category for links) I started comparing the two products. Ben initially covered TNA in his article "Why You Should Be Watching TNA" but he stopped the discussion before a comparison of brands. I'd like to break it down for you now:

Category 1: Excitement

I’ll start off by posting links to the best of TNA, and the best of AJ Styles

These two videos show incredible athleticism and creativity. After watching these videos I find myself wanting to become a TNA fan. Since WWE has such a huge fan base, TNA has to pull fans away from WWE and toward TNA. This means that TNA has to have this kind of excitement every single night to keep up with WWE (which I feel is not happening at all).

Now I will give you some links to WWE videos: WWE1 and WWE2 (and i don't think that these two videos have even put a quarter of the cool stuff that WWE has done in here)

I feel that these two videos have the same quality of excitement that the TNA ones have, even though the WWE videos are missing some very important moments (Shane-o jumping off of billions of things, the complete Mick Foley vs. The Undertaker HIAC match, etc...)

The plus side of WWE having three shows is that they have a great chance to have three or four great and exciting matches a week, where as TNA fills up a week with about 6 matches.

Category winner: WWE

Category 2: Storylines

TNA has the creative genius behind the WWF Attitude Era (Vince Russo). However, I feel that his style doesn't fit TNA's style because of the short programming time. That being said, I feel that TNA had a nice amount of hype building into the King of the Mountain title win for Angle. Overall I feel that the storylines for TNA are pretty good (7 out of 10).

I thoroughly dislike most WWE storylines, such as Vince McMahon's death, John Cena vs. Khali, Lashley vs. the new Corporation (as I like to call it), etc...There really isn't anything I like about the WWE writing staff except for Dusty Rhodes at ECW...but that balances out because I hate Dave Lagana (he makes dumb decisions like having Hardcore Holly pin CM Punk clean and making CM Punk the first person out in the Elimination Chamber). However, I especially hate Smackdown's writers (Michael Hayes) and their storylines, because they show us the same main event almost every week. They always have a tag-team match between two tag-teams who aren't actually teams (like tomorrow's Edge & MVP vs. Batista & Ric Flair). So overall I feel that the storylines for WWE are not up to par (4 out of 10)

Category Winner: TNA

Category 3: Superstars

The obvious idea here is to compare two lists of superstars, one for each company. I will do this based on talent mixed with popularity.

TNA: Abyss, AJ Styles, Team 3D, LAX, Christian Cage, Jay Lethal, Jeff Jarrett, Kurt Angle, Rhino, Samoa Joe, Scott Steiner, Sting, Tyson Tomko.

WWE: Chris Benoit, CM Punk, Lashley, John Cena, Batista (I know), The Hardy Boyz, MR. KENNEDY, Randy Orton, HBK, HHH, Shane McMahon, Stone Cold, Kendrick & London, Edge, MVP, Kane, Rey Mysterio, Ric Flair, The Undertaker.

Shall we compare? Let's start with comparing the tag-teams. I put the top two tag-teams for each product. TNA has Team 3D and LAX, and WWE has Kendrick & London and the Hardy Boyz. Team 3D is actually the most decorated tag-team in WWE history, and they are doing very well in TNA as well. However, LAX is not up to the level that the Hardy Boyz (or even Kendrick & London) are on (and LAX is deteriorating). I am going to have to give the titles of "best tag-teams" and "most exciting tag-teams" to WWE.

Let's look at singles competition now. TNA has GREAT wrestlers like AJ Styles, Christian, Kurt Angle, and Samoa Joe. However, WWE has a great mix of powerhouses (Lashley, Cena, Batista), athletics (Jeff Hardy, Brian Kendrick, Rey Mysterio), classics (HBK, The Undertaker, Ric Flair) and future greats (Mr. Kennedy, CM Punk, MVP). A mix like that makes WWE all the more enjoyable, and that's why...

Category Winner: WWE

Category 4: Programming

In this category, I am going to compare the 1 hour show and the 2 hour show...

Both times have their pluses and minuses, but generally I feel that 2 hours is too much, and 1 hour is not enough...so basically I would like it if both shows were an hour and a half. This is because I always feel that TNA is rushing through things, and I feel that WWE has too many unnecessary backstage segments and squash matches. However, I feel that the 2 hour show is better than the 1 hour show because it allows time for more wrestling...and that is what I expect from a WRESTLING show.

Clear Category Winner: WWE

So basically in my opinion, WWE wins the heated contest 3-1. Please comment on the post and agree or disagree with me (even under anonymous).

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Why You Should Be Watching TNA

In between RAW on Mondays and SMACKDOWN on Fridays, there's another wrestling promotion that everyone should be tuning in to. It's TNA IMPACT, the once-a-week cable show for the only rival company in town. Now, I'm as loyal to the WWE as the next John Cena fan, but TNA has lots to offer that the WWE does not. And so, I'm proud to present the top four reasons you SHOULD be watching TNA IMPACT (9 PM on Spike TV, Thursdays). Since it's only an hour long, it more appropriately matches up with the ECW show. You don't even have to watch TNA IMPACT to know it's probably better than the mess being featured every Tuesday on SciFi.

1. The Tag Teams. Blowing SMACKDOWN's teams out of the water and still light years ahead of RAW, the teams from TNA are best since The Attitude Era. And predictably, that's where a few of them originated. There's Team 3D (The Dudley Boyz) and The Voodoo Kin Mafia (New Age Outlaws), two of the best teams in the history of wrestling. They never really feuded during their time together in the WWE, but that's not because they didn't match up well. Just as some of the best of the WWE is represented, so too is WCW. The Steiner Brothers (Rick and Scott) are on the roster in their original form. And possibly the most impressive of the teams is an entirely new creation, LAX (The Latin American Exchange). LAX features two Ring Of Honor stars, Homicide and Hernandez. Homicide had the more celebrated Indy career and is a prolific trainer to others while Hernandez received the better initial training (Shawn Michaels). Together, they form what I believe is the best tag team in all of wrestling.

2. The Moves. The moves are just better. No question about it. Since TNA doesn't have the bankroll of the WWE, it has to excel in aspects of the sport which aren't controlled by money. Enter: good moves. LAX's Homicide and Hernandez own two of the most interesting finishers in the sport, The Gringo Killer and The Border Toss, respectively. The Gringo Killer is a back to back double underhook sit out piledriver which seems to be just dangerous enough to kill someone, but easily entertaining enough to draw the fans. The Border Toss is a throwing crucifix powerbomb, which is very similar to Razor Ramon's Razor's Edge. However, neither of these comes close to the best of all, Petey Williams' Canadian Destroyer. This move, a flip piledriver, has to be the most spectacular and interesting move in the business. It's not just the finishers, however, that are innovative. TNA prides itself on diverse and entertaining move sets, and in that, it succeeds.

3. The Competition. For an avid WWE fan, TNA and its show might be seen as a rival. But really, this isn't the case. It's on a different night and it doesn't even travel to various cities. Sure, it's technically the competition, but not in a way in which viewing it will hurt the WWE. I believe, instead, that increased viewership of TNA will help the WWE. The greatest success of Vince McMahon, The Attitude Era, grew out of competition with WCW. The WWE had to continually work on storylines and feuds to make them fresh and fun. They didn't have the time or the money to let a stale feud like Lashley and Umaga play out over the course of many months. If TNA can become a true competitor to the WWE, it would force Vince and Co. to rethink their strategy and continue to innovate as they did during the late 90s. It is often said that there can't be a third Golden Age of wrestling without two competing companies. The WWE and TNA might just be the two to do it.

4. Vince Russo. They have Vince Russo. A quick refresher course on Russo: He was eventually promoted to the WWF Creative Team in 1996. In that same year, RAW hit an all-time ratings low of 1.8, as WCW's NITRO, was in the midst of an 84-week winnings-streak against Raw head-to-head (see Monday Night Wars). With WCW eclipsing the WWF, McMahon called upon Russo to make changes to the televised product. Russo would eventually become head writer for the WWF, contributing edgy, controversial storylines involving sexual content, on-camera profanity, and unexpected heel turns. Notable storylines and characters during Russo's run as head writer include the Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Mr. McMahon feud, The Undertaker vs. Kane feud, D-Generation X, the rise of The Rock, and the Mick Foley saga. Russo was able to increase ratings enormously on Raw, bringing the rating from a 1.9 to a 8.1. Sold on Russo? I thought so. He's essentially solely responsible for every dollar of marketing revenue that the WWE made between 1996 and 1999. Seriously, go back and read that bolded list again. Tell me something that you remember from the Attitude Era that doesn't happen to be on Russo's list of creations. The mind behind TNA is more than enough reason to start tuning in.

A note to our readers: next week, the url for The Irish Whip will be changing to irishwhip.blogspot.com instead of benanddrew.blogspot.com. Please change your bookmarks accordingly.

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Promotion Allegiance

Guest column by the MIT Comparative Media Studies program:

I cannot help but notice the strange relationship that has always existed between the wrestlers and promotions. For the guys on the top of the card, it makes sense to stay until the money dries up. But what makes wrestlers who are not getting a major push stay with a promotion?

Above all else, professional wrestling exists because there is money to be made. It's a business. Once a wrestler signs a contract, he needs to honor it like any other employee. If he doesn't have one, his allegiance should be trying to make as much money or getting seen by the right people. On the other side of the coin is the promotion itself, which strives to acquire the best talent and house them under one roof.

For most organizations, like the NWA in the 1950s, a wrestler emerged who could carry the organization, and the NWA World Heavyweight Title, for almost a decade. Lou Thesz held the title for seven years straight, in a relationship that was obviously beneficial for both parties. The NWA had a credible champion, one that could withstand most double-crosses, and Thesz was a national wrestling icon. As long as the two stayed together, the money continued to flow. WWE was able to create a similar experience in the 90s where as WCW faltered. Times of success in this business are usually produced by creating consistent allegiance to a brand.

Still the question remains: how much allegiance does a wrestler owe his promotion? This is a question that the TNA is trying to answer now. They recently issued a memo that all wrestlers under contract must get approval before doing any public interviews, and also warned against making any statements criticizing the promotion.

When TNA starts getting the TV ratings that WWE does, and when they work the number of dates WWE does, then the pay rate can compare. If I were TNA, I'd offer low-end contracts with performance incentives (for both talent and bookers). Will they have wrestler's allegiance at that point? Maybe some, maybe not. That's going to be the case at any point, really. Few wrestlers showed allegiance during the most popular and highest paid era of wrestling - the "Monday Night Wars." If TNA is lucky, it will be able to enjoy such a rivalry with the WWE. Even in this, the best case scenario for TNA, allegiance will be hard to come by.


Article written by the MIT Comparative Media Studies program, Article edited by Benjamin Zeidler

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