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What would You do With The TNA Roster?

2K views 19 replies 15 participants last post by  LoMein 
#1 · (Edited)
Say you have carte blanche, you are the new Impact Wrestling Head Writer, you can do whatever you want but you have to work with the guys they are giving you. So you cannot get new talent or fire anyone. What would you do with the TNA roster.

Who would be your top faces?

Top heels?

Your tag teams?

Would you keep the current groups(Menagerie, Revolution, BDC), disband them, not have any groups or form new ones?

Roster
Abyss
Austin Aries
Bobby Roode
Bram
Chris Melendez
Davey Richards
DJ Z
Eddie Richards
Eric Young
Ethan Carter
Gunner
James Storm
Jeff Hardy
Jesie Godderz
Kenny King
Khoya
Kurt Angle
Lashley
Low Ki
Magnus
Manik
Matt Hardy
Mr. Anderson
MVP
Robbie E
Rockstar Spud
Samoa Joe
Samuel Shaw
The Great Sanada
Tigre Uno
Tyrus
Knux
Crazy Steve

girls:
Amazing Kong
Havok
Madison Rayne
Gail Kim
Taryn Terrell
Angelina Love
Brooke
 
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#3 ·
Re: Why Would You do With The TNA Roster?

I'd give Aries a hug and then shoot myself in the head.
 
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#8 ·
Re: Why Would You do With The TNA Roster?

Have MVP win the title, disband BDC With Kenny King only having his back setting up short term programs with both Low Ki and Joe.

Ultimately Angle beats MVP, maybe at Slammiversary.

Have Davey win the X title and cash in option C setting up Angle Vs. Davey. With Angle going over.

All leading toward Angle and EC3 at BFG with EC3 going over, winning the title and being made.

Have Eddie win the vacant X title setting up a future program with Davey and Eddie.
 
#15 ·
Re: Why Would You do With The TNA Roster?

Have MVP win the title, disband BDC With Kenny King only having his back setting up short term programs with both Low Ki and Joe.

Ultimately Angle beats MVP, maybe at Slammiversary.

Have Davey win the X title and cash in option C setting up Angle Vs. Davey. With Angle going over.

All leading toward Angle and EC3 at BFG with EC3 going over, winning the title and being made.

Have Eddie win the vacant X title setting up a future program with Davey and Eddie.
I would like to see all of that. Buddy, you are hired!
 
#18 ·
Abyss - I'd give him some time as opposed to firing him straight off, simply because i like the idea of the revolution being 'the island of misfit toys'; all talented guys, but they've been pushed aside for one reason or another, now they're here to fuck up the guys that got 'their rightful spots'; in this role Abyss might not be so played out, and might actually validate a spot on the roster, if not, future endeavored.

Austin Aries - Ah, A Double, the proverbial almost man of TNA. First off, i'd stop this stupid shit they do where he's constantly winning the title then dropping it randomly, only to feud with someone until option C rolls around, then he'd be right back in the chase for the X-Title. No more of that shit, he's above the X-Division, and everyone knows that. I'd turn Aries heel, simply because he's at his arrogant best when he's that way, i'd put him in a series of feuds where he'd be going over younger talent to try and fix some of the long term damage the former writers wishy washy writing has done. Eventually, he'd go into a feud with both of my top pushed faces, which would be Magnus and Gunner currently (not over the likes of Hardy and Angle, but in a rise up the card sort of sense) he'd lose to one, and beat the other, the one he defeats ends up as world champion a month or two later, et voila Aries is in a feud for the title belt not requiring him to cash in.

Bobby Roode - Face of the company, be all and end all of TNA; eventually passing the torch over to any of EC3, Magnus or Gunner, whoever grabs the brass ring, so to speak.

Bram - Basically put him into the role Abyss played a few years back, i'd use him to turn Magnus face by having Bram put him out of action for a good few months after a failed tag title attempt, Bram would get vicious with Magnus doing some kind of cringeworthy spot. After this Bram would be suspended for a week or two for psychiatric assessment. It'd be revealed he has a large number of personality defects (he's a psychopath, basically) and would be banned from hardcore matches. obviously this would be an excuse to only allow him into these matches if the face he was feuding with demanded it, this would lead to Bram actively trying to antagonize faces into wanting to seriously hurt him.

Chris Melendez - PR stunt, gone.

Davey Richards - Continue the relatively good booking of the wolves that has already been taking place, maybe split them up down the line, but i'm not a huge fan of the idea.

DJ Z - Top heel of my new X-Division once Kenny King has been promoted out of it, i'd turn him into one of those irritating douchebag internet kids, Tumblr references, constant twitter plugs, really make him seem like a hipster asshole. Nobody likes hipsters.

Eddie Edwards - Read Davey Richards.

Eric Young - See, this ones difficult, he's had a very odd year and it's not helped by the fact that they recently rushed him into a heel turn. I'm honestly kind of unsure where i'd go with him to begin with; i guess i'd really have to keep him as a heel. The best place for him seems like the mid-card though; maybe try to re-do his old heel run where he was the secret mastermind behind the global faction (name is escaping me).

Ethan Carter - Pushed to the damn moon as the top heel of the company, keep him there, keep him the horrible piece of human waste that he is and go from there, the guy gets a bigger reaction than any other 'home grown' talent at this point. IF he ever starts getting cheers, he could transition the same way Cena did initially into a face of the company; but that's a strong if. Top of the Card, either way.

Gunner- I honestly didn't think much of Gunner at all until his most recent push; the guys got something special about him. I always believe in having at least one powerhouse main eventer, and he'd definitely be mine. Either have him as the 'all american hero' he was playing before as a face, or maybe inject some PTSD elements into him and turn him into a brooding lunatic heel for a bit, i was hoping that's where the Shaw angle would lead.

James Storm - I actually prefer him as a cult leader over Bray Wyatt over in the WWE, which is saying something because i rate them massively. I'd cut the overt costumes that he seems to have his followers wearing though, maybe have that be a character trait, they're forced to dress like ridiculous parodies of wrestlers until they prove they're not one. Would definitely be a main event heel on my show; ruthless asshole, cutting people who aren't worthy from his stable, improving people who are's success' which would lead to faces actually considering his advances, giving him that cool 'necessary evil' vibe.

Jeff Hardy - Continue as usual, kept away from the title except if theres a lull in stories or competition, but the great thing about Jeff is he can function in every single part of the card. I'd probably convince him to give another heel run a go at some point down the line, before some kind of final swansong as a face in a year or two where he's back in the main event with a 'fresh palette' ready to put over the new guys and have a couple more runs.

Jesie Godderz - Used to think there was something in this guy, becoming more unsure about it as time goes by. Continue with bro-gimmick for now, if improvement stays relatively stagnant, future endeavored.

Kenny King - All purpose guy in my prominently featured X-Division set up, Face and Heel, see if he can catch on and get over the X-Division barrier into the upper-card and main event, if not a strong hand for my X-Division and possibly tag.

Khoya - unsure, need to see more from him.

Kurt Angle - steady hand in the upper card, ready to put people over and carry matches and titles if need be. i'd want him heel to begin with though as i feel he's gotten kind of stale as a face.

Lashley - Keep doing what they've been doing, guy looks legit as fuck right now.

Low Ki - Not a big fan of the guy honestly, think he's quite over-rated. i'd definitely keep him around as somewhat of a ring general for the X-Division, but i don't see much more for him outside of that.

Magnus - Future face of the company, the 'good guy' if you will. It's all well and good having edgy guys, but i'd want Magnus to be clean cut and as babyface as humanly possible, relate-able and always standing up for the little guy.

Manik - Continue on down the dark path that Storm has set him on, eventually turning him face and re-debuting him as TJ Perkins after his re-birth.

Matt Hardy - Total jobber except when with the hardy boys. Can't really see anything for him outside of that.

Mr. Anderson - This ones a bit odd, but i'd quite like to see him as the on air authority figure, there's just not really anywhere for him to fit into the program anymore, and given his face/heel turn ratio he's shown he can do either role, and i think i'd need that in a GM. another option would be commentary.
MVP - Fine where he is, kept away from the title belt. feuding with up and coming faces for now. probably one last face run when it comes towards the end of his career, possibly a tag team with an up and coming face leading to a world title run, with his 'protege' being the one to 'pull the trigger' and end his career.

Robbie E - Face turn, i want him away from the Bro-mans and to see if he can fly by himself in the upper mid-card. He'd cut himself away from the Bro-mans after a losing streak and beg Brooke to take him back because he wants to be 'a better man', have this process go on for a couple of months with Robbie E going through some grueling shit to prove his worth; hopefully this wins fans over to cheering him, there's nothing more relate-able than love. Eventually he'd win her over, they'd be an on-screen couple and we'll see where things go from there judged off his crowd reaction.

Rockstar Spud - Another Face of the X-Division, i'd have him be the almost man, similar to D-Bry before WWE pulled their heads out their asses and gave him the world title, he gets so close, but ultimately falls at the last hurdle, making the time he finally does win it, something special. From there i'd transition him to tag team wrestling with someone, i'm unsure who as of yet; if he's still getting the reactions he is now or better yet stronger however long this is down the line, he'd get a shot at the big one on a PPV; not sure if i'd take him further than that though.

Samoa Joe - This is a tricky one for me, because i love Joe, but honestly he's kind of played out. My only real idea for something interesting for Joe (because this MVP faction is shit in my eyes and i'd drop it immediately) would be some kind of story where he's gone broke and is down on his luck, trying to keep winning to keep his familys head above water; think JBL & Hbk a few years back; his ultimate goal would be the world title because of the 'money' it brings wrestlers, it would fix up his familys problems if he could get back to where he was.

Samuel Shaw - Less psychopath, more creepy 'i wouldn't leave him alone with a woman'. see if he can get over off of being a misogynistic rape-y dude because i've already got other wrestlers i want in the 'unstable' mould.

The Great Sanada - Like Manik, continue with Storm, bulk him up a little bit, but the difference would be when he and Manik are re-born, Sanada is a heel still, Darker hair, different tights and all that jazz to disacossiate him from the bright colours he used to have. He and the re-debuted perkins would be the two highlights of the X-Division and the 'go-to' feud of the X-Division.

Tigre Uno - Solid wrestler, marketable too, given far more air time and pushed as a middle of the pack guy in the x-division.

Tyrus - Unless he brings back the intensity he had in NXT, gone.

Knux - Lets face it, his stable has fallen flat. The only ray of hope is having him turn on the rest of them; if that fails, gone.

Crazy Steve - Entertaining, but a gimmick act until the very end. I'm unfamiliar with the wrestler behind the paint, perhaps repackage him to be something not so stupid, if not, unfortunately gone.

Knockouts:
Amazing Kong - #1 /2 heel
Havok - #1 /2 heel
Madison Rayne - Underdog Heel/Slight jobber
Gail Kim - #2 face
Taryn Terrell - #1 face
Angelina Love - Gone.
Brooke - Underdog face/Slight jobber
 
#4 ·
Re: Why Would You do With The TNA Roster?

Truthfully, I'm all for dream booking but given the limitations of TNA's pre-planned direction, I'm not sure what I would do. Might start simple. I'd make it more about improving and establishing the brand and the product.

- We've established that Eric Young is not a member of the BDC so I'd stop involving him in their matches and interviews and let him and Roode have a separate program.

- No more in-ring interviews. I believe it was Jesse Ventura who remarked, "In my day, the ring was where you went to have the match." A lot of these guy's limited promo skills become obvious when they are cutting long, drawn-out ones in front of an audience. I'd go for the old Gene Okerlund podium approach for interviews that require an audience to play off of or angles to unfold. The in-ring opener that leads into the "single most exciting main event" randomly being booked for that night is passé.

- Since we're playing with the idea that this is a taped show. Find great ways to incorporate lots of behind-the-scenes events and taped vignettes to build a weekly show. It cut downs on people being able to just read spoilers from the TV tapings.

- Save pay-per-view quality matches for PPV's or PPV-quality shows. The main world title program should not be a weekly fixture on free TV. Put it out there on house shows for the paying crowd to watch and to give the two rivals time to develop strong chemistry for the big TV payoff match.

- One singles title match per show. Something like Aries vs. Low-Ki for the X-Division should not be a weekly title trade-off in the middle of the program. If you have it, make it the FEATURED MAIN EVENT. Having a champion constantly facing their top contender in the middle of a card, devalues both the title and the interest in the feud.

- Occasionally incorporate house show clips into weekly TV to further feature a feud. Having the announcers playing up "Exclusive footage of an incident involving Opponent A and Opponent B" and then having one of them comment on that builds up the pay-off a lot more than just having them both come out and wrestle, week in and week out. It also plays up the idea that exciting stuff occasionally happens on our road shows so buy a ticket!

- Lose the six-sided ring! One of the few good things Hulk and Eric did. Bring it back occasionally for a "Destination X" show or a nostalgia show but other than that, get rid of that fucking thing.

- No more FEAST OR FIRED!

- If we're doing our monthly PPV's as "free shows", try to book them on a different night, as opposed to making them "very special episodes" of IMPACT! Make an extra hour of matches that weren't on TV as "DVD exclusives" so you can sell the show and exploit it as something different.

Okay... next to none of this applied to the roster but you got my brain spinning so I went with it.
 
#6 ·
Re: Why Would You do With The TNA Roster?

My top faces would be Bobby Roode and Lashley. They would be rival, but work together to take out the BDC.

My top heels would be MVP, as leader of the BDC, and Eric Young.

My top face tag team would be the Wolves. My top heel team would be Samoa Joe & Low-Ki.

My top knockouts would be Gail Kim as a face and Jessicka Havok as a heel, with Amazing Kong acting as a tweener and just dominating all of them.

My top x divisions would be Kenny King, Rockstar Spud, Austin Aries, and Manik
 
#7 ·
Re: Why Would You do With The TNA Roster?

I think a good way to phase out the groups for example would be just not show the guys together. With the Menagerie for instance you can just not show Knux and Crazy Steve for a while on TV. With the BDC while MVP and KK are busy with Lashley, you can have Joe and Low Ki going after the tag titles once Storm and Abyss lose them. So after that, they don't even have to show up with the feuds that involve MVP and KK. Hell MVP and KK could just feud with each other once they fail to beat Lashley. And for the Revolution, after Storm and Abyss lose the belts, Storm blames Abyss and this become something personal and the Revolution become less important for Storm once all his focus is about Abyss. These are little things that could phase out the groups.
 
#9 ·
Re: Why Would You do With The TNA Roster?

build Magnus back up to a top face, using the UK fans to cheer for him.

end the nonsense that is the Revolution, but still use James Storm as a top heel.

Jeff Hardy gets back into singles competition.

EC3 gets back to serious feuds, not wasting his time with Spud and Mark Andrews.

Spud gets back to being a manager where he belongs, where he can actually excel in that role.

Abyss gets back to being a monster. limit/stop his talking, which would be better to bring in a manager. someone like James Mitchell?

some how/some way Mr Anderson turns heel, which is where he should be.

I like the idea mentioned of only 1 title match per show. any more than that and you're doing too much. make things last, don't blow your load on one regular impact.
 
#12 ·
Re: Why Would You do With The TNA Roster?

1. Lashley mouthpiece should be Spud. They can be TNA version of Rob and Big. Fans would love the two.

2. EC3 and Kurt Angle fued. The best way to use Angle at the end of his career is to put over the young guy .

3. One thing I've learn from hardcore TNA fans is that no one is better than Roode and Aries. I would be on the safe side and have face Roode vs. heel Aries for the title until someone else can step up to the holy grail of TNA.

4. Is Shera a heel or babyface? Shera should be a babyface in squash matches.
 
#13 ·
Re: Why Would You do With The TNA Roster?

I would get rid of the X-Divsion title, and create a U.S title. Hire Lex Luger, put him in a mask and have him manage Gunner. Would have been gold if Sting was still in TNA. He could have blamed Sting for all his problems. Have Gunner win the world title with the torture rack. He is ready to be in the main event. I would get Kenny King and Jessie ready to take the next step, by putting them in fueds with veterans. You could have king slap somebody in the face and laugh to start his fued. Have him slap Rowdy Piper.
 
#14 ·
Re: Why Would You do With The TNA Roster?

fire Kenny king, abyss, and crazy steve... spend that money on light bulbs, and a 4 sided ring, not a fuckin 8x8 one either, but actual full size...
 
#16 · (Edited)
Re: Why Would You do With The TNA Roster?

Define the divisions and the rosters for each division with no cross over except for one Major ppv (Cross The Line) and a ONO ppv special. X Division renamed Xtreme Division.

No factions, no groups and a neutral GM would be refreshing after all of the authority heel GM's over the last several years.

Attention Writers...Long term storylines give the weekly shows a clear direction for 3 months-13 weekly shows to build anticipation for the big payoff matches at each of the 4 major ppv's.

Hello booker...One (main event) match scheduled per week on Impact, always the last match (20 minutes) of the show, can be any division! All other matches are storyline based programming leading up to the main event match and these matches should build in importance as the show pinnacles at the finale of the main event match.

Since most of the shows are pre recorded...between matches incorporate short recorded interviews, video of appearances by wrestlers outside of the arena, announce major news releases, commentary, storyline video segments and clips from house shows into the Impact show to improve the presentation.

Realigned divisions using the current roster...(F)ace or (H)eel.

General Manager/Wrestler Kurt Angle.

TNA Heavyweight Division Singles:
(F) Bobby Roode...TNA Heavyweight World Champion.
(H) Ethan Carter III
(F) Bobby Lashley
(H) Samoa Joe
(F) Gunner
(H) MVP

TNA Heavyweight Division Tag Teams:
(H) Magnus & Bram...TNA Heavyweight World Tag Team Champions.
(F) James Storm & Matt Hardy
(H) Kenny King & Samuel Shaw
(F) Mr Anderson & Khoya
(H) Abyss & Tyrus
(F) Knux & Chris Melendez

TNA Xtreme Division Singles:
(F) Jeff Hardy...TNA Xtreme World Champion.
(H) Austin Aries
(F) Manik (no mask)
(H) Zema Ion
(F) Low Ki
(H) Tigre Uno

TNA Xtreme Division Tag Teams:
(F) Davey Richards & Eddie Edwards...TNA Xtreme World Tag Team Champions.
(H) Robbie E & Jesse Godderz
(F) Eric Young & Steve Scott (no clown gimmick)
(H) Awesome Kong & Jessica Havok
(F) Rockstar Spud & Mark Andrews
(H) Homicide & Sanada

TNA Knockouts Division:
(H) Brooke Tessmacher...TNA Knockouts World Champion.
(F) Taryn Terrell
(H) Gail Kim
(F) Madison Rayne
(H) Angelina Love
(F) Rebel
 
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