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Booker T Speaks On His Problems With TNA

5K views 50 replies 47 participants last post by  Mr Nice Guy 
#1 ·
Here’s what Booker had to say:

“Mainly the reason I wasn’t happy was because I wasn’t wrestling and wasn’t performing. I was there for two years and probably had three real matches. When I first came to TNA, my thing was I wanted to help them grow, I wanted to be out there in the middle of the ring performing with Sting, Jarrett, Steiner, Hall, Angle, A.J. Samoa, all of them, and I didn’t get to do that in that two-year period and show them what Booker T was really made of. And I didn’t get to do that because of the writing in TNA. I always felt that’s where TNA was lacking a little bit. I won’t say a little bit. A lot more tan WWE. As far as business goes, WWE has a staff. They have several people putting together a show and when y you have one person trying to put together a two hour show, it’s very hard.” He also said, “I felt they took a huge step back when they got rid of the six-sided ring after investing seven years in it and making people believe they were a different company, and went back to being the same as everyone else. That was your signature, your staple and there were a lot of complaints from people saying they couldn’t work in it properly. I know exactly what the problem was because I worked in it. It was just too small. They should have made it two feet bigger on each side and it would have been perfectly fine for Hogan to get in and work as opposed to changing the look of TNA to make it look like WCW. WCW is dead. It will never come back. It should be that way because life is evolution. We go forward, not backward.”

Credit: F4Wonline.com
 
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#15 ·
Nothing new, nothing wrong. Everyone outlines the same problem, TNA still too stubborn to change anything, though I never thought the 6-sided ring was a big deal.
 
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#32 ·
Booker T is a tremendous performer. Your personal preferences aside, I don't know how anyone can deny that or fail to admit that the guy was born to entertain. You can just tell he thrives when performing in front of live audiences.

Midway through his TNA run, I could really begin to see signs of boredom, restlessness, and/or stagnation. Even when he'd deliver an entertaining backstage segment, he just didn't seem to have his heart in the performances anymore. And that sucks.

Booker, as an entertainer, raised the bar for himself - especially during his WWE run. His TNA stint was a major bust. It is being generous to just call it a letdown.

I'm a little surprised that Booker admits to "phoning it in" for much of his TNA tenure, even though it's only implied. But I'm sure he has a valid point. After all, it must be difficult to work a match, hitting certain spots, landing signature moves, and trying to build a logical story around the structure of illogical storylines, interference, run-ins, and all that bullshit. I feel for those performers.

It must really suck, because Booker has no choice but to admit that - despite all the political games & bullshit - WWE has their shit together. They have a model & plan in place that works. TNA, in his opinion, does not. While he may have left WWE due to his lack of pull or stroke, he ran into the arms of a whole different breed of monster with TNA.

With more and more people speaking out, and more & more people on the business end of things catching on, you have to wonder how long it'll be before TNA management settles on a specific business model.

As a fan of TNA, I find it frustrating. It feels like every time they've "found" a winning idea, it turns out they've just accidentally "stumbled" across one instead. Furthermore, they'll quickly jump right back into the same old bullshit they were doing before, instead of sticking with the new ideas that work.

Like I said, it's frustrating. Month after month, they're replacing writers, shifting goals, changing directions, or just giving themselves another "reboot" of some sort. And I hate it. Get some consistency. Get some model, some plan, or some idea of what you want to do.

I'm sick to death of TNA fucking up and then having the announcers publically announce that they screwed up. Every other week, it's like they're asking for forgiveness and begging to be given another try. They might as well have Tenay come out and say, "Watch next week, folks! We promise not to suck!"

All in all, I personally hope to see Booker return to TV in some capacity one day. I don't care if it's with TNA or WWE, because - if his heart is back in it - then he'll thrive again. He's just got a knack for it.
 
#51 ·
Didn't he just get suspended for steriods back when about 20 people got suspended at the same time? He got all mad that he got suspended that he ragequit WWE?
 
#11 ·
WCW was successful, it was killed by the suits at TBS.
It HAD made a series of mistakes, lost viewers, and lost a lot of its stars by the time it met its demise. But it was still getting decent ratings enough to have continued on. But TBS decided wrestling was no longer in line with their image, and they cancelled it.

I never liked the six sided ring, by the way.
 
#16 ·
I hated the six sided ring, but thats not really TNA biggest issue. They have no consistency or long term visioning. The have no promotion and rely to much on their fans to do it for them. Every time they get something good going they end up scrapping it and then going right back to the same formula months later. There are just too many co-pilots driving the ship in different directions.
 
#19 ·
I think that Booker's right in that we never saw PPV matches of him Vs Angle/Sting/Steiner or any of the guys like that. I think they could've been good. As for the six sided ring, it was just a gimmick. And it was a poor attempt from TNA to distinguish themselves from WWE. TNA shouldn't rely on the number of sides their ring has to distinguish themselves, they should be relying on better match quality, more adult-oriented storylines and more interesting characters.
 
#23 · (Edited)
The first thing that stuck out in my mind when I read this was how he claimed he wanted to help TNA grow and then proceeded to list about 5 over-the-hill wrestlers he wanted to work with. If he REALLY wanted to make TNA grow he should have been looking to work with the young guys to get them over. The company isn't going to grow by building up Sting. Furthermore, Angle, Jarrett and even AJ, don't need your help. But, there is a locker room full of other talent that does. It makes me think he wasn't ONLY there to help TNA grow.

He makes it seem like he had intentions of giving back to the wrestling buisness and nothing more. But, I think the reality was, he was also looking to prove his own abilities and help himself.
 
#24 ·
I agree with most of the things he said... but why did he want to feud with Sting, Jarrett, Steiner and Hall ??? ... Hall wtf ...

feuding with those guys would not help TNA grow at all...

the best thing he did was the feud with robert rhoode ! and the one with joe was also not that bad...
 
#25 ·
If it ain't broke done fix it.

I like Booker and think he's great but that ring was awful.

Squared Circle = Pro Wrestling. Even his own brother, in a interview, said the six sided ring was a joke.

You don't see American sports like the NFL changing their field or NBA changing their court.

I do agree that creative should have done better with him, most people would probably be shocked to know that he really was in TNA for two years... With that said, if I remember right, He didn't want to put over a 7 foot Giant in Matt Morgan... WHY? someone like Amazing Red is one thing but why be a hard ass to job to Matt Morgan?

Book was a Tag Champ and the first Legends Champion and got his $ so...
 
#36 ·
isnt the 6 sided ring in wrestling over all been around longer and really was just america that changed to be more like boxing when it was said to be a real sport and not fake
 
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