Prime Time / GENESIS

[bmurderh8s]

You don't need an angle or storyline to enjoy a match between Joe and Angle. Both are great workers and well liked among wrestling fans in the know.

[GOODZILLA]

I'm sure the TNA fans out there will not miss this match. I can tell that a lot of you guys on this board are excited as hell about it, and that's good for you guys. Hopefully they tear the house down and it's everything you hoped it would be.

But I honestly don't see this bringing in much better ratings for them. TNA has their fanbase, and it is a very vocal and loyal one. But I just don't think the casual fan pays much attention to TNA. I have talked to a lot of my friends, for the most part casual wrestling fans, and they have no idea when TNA is on or what channel. They don't go on wrestling websites. They don't look up TNA news. They don't care about TNA. The majority of them didn't even know that Angle was in the company.

Having Joe and Angle fight right away will please their hardcore fans, and I'm sure it will draw in some new viewers. These new viewers will watch the Joe-Angle match, and maybe it will be good. Or maybe it will suck. And then what?? Does TNA have another card up their sleeve? Another carrot to dangle in front of these casual fans to get them to care enough to tune in next week?

I think they would have been much better off taking their time and building up this match properly. Give people some time to get used to TNA being on Spike TV. Give people some time to check it out BEFORE you blow your big money match.

But I'm just Goodzilla. And you're just Japan.

[bmurderh8s]

If the match goes well and turns out to be a real barnburner, thats a great lead in to a rematch on PPV.

You're debuting on prime time, and this to me comes off as the perfect time and place to have these two meet.

[MikeMcKinney]

Looks very interesting

[moderntimes]

bmurderh8s said:

If the match goes well and turns out to be a real barnburner, thats a great lead in to a rematch on PPV.

You're debuting on prime time, and this to me comes off as the perfect time and place to have these two meet.

Instead of actually building up to a showdown at a big show and getting tons of PPV buys and doing better business overall? Jim Cornette himself has stated, "There is no such thing as a quick fix in professional wrestling," this isn't going to make the fan base grow, because well, let's face it: not many people know who the hell Samoa Joe is. Angle came in right at the end of the boom, really not a household name either. That's been proven if you check the ratings when Angle's on. They're actually pretty low.

You see building up to this has many benefits. A) Angle gets healthier but most of all, B) It has potential to be the biggest main event TNA has ever had thus lots and lots of buys.

So yeah. Let's say (and I think this is going out on a limb) Angle/Joe have a MOTY candidate. Let's say that it leads to a rematch: who's going to watch in December? THE SAME PEOPLE. TNA needs to expand it's fan base and quickly. They really blew a golden opportunity here.

[smathis]

First, I think TNA should've continued with the angles they were developing before Kurt showed up. They should've had Sting give Joe the shot at the belt that he wanted after hijacking it from Jarrett. They should've had Joe take the belt. Now, we have a *reason* for Angle and Joe to lock horns.

Angle could be squashing competition like Lance Hoyt, Ron Killings and (teehee) Shark Boy (sorry just had to throw him in there). While Angle was developing on the TNA roster (and subsequently getting healthier and introducing new elements to a -- perhaps -- more toned-down, MMA style), Joe could be feuding blood and guts with Christian. All the while Kurt and Joe could be building heat for their inevitable matchup.

When Joe and Angle meet in say, 3-4 months from now, they have all this mess built up because neither have been "defeated" in TNA. Catch would be that Joe had *technically* lost matches but not by pinfall or submission. This could be fuel for the fire if you book Angle to have never lost a match by any means.

First match with Joe and Angle goes the full time limit. An old-school one-hour draw. You could then follow up with at least two matches and, I think, sell PPVs like it's going out of style.

But, no, we get it sooner rather than later. Which is probably good for the instant gratification crowd, but likely bad for TNA in the long-term.

We should pool money to put a voodoo curse on Jeff Jarrett if he's loony enough to end Joe-Angle with a run-in for a face-turn. It's bad enough that Angle and Joe have nothing to really settle in the ring. Having JJ steal the spotlight would be tragic.

[gwffantrav]

smathis said:

First, I think TNA should've continued with the angles they were developing before Kurt showed up. They should've had Sting give Joe the shot at the belt that he wanted after hijacking it from Jarrett. They should've had Joe take the belt. Now, we have a *reason* for Angle and Joe to lock horns.

Angle could be squashing competition like Lance Hoyt, Ron Killings and (teehee) Shark Boy (sorry just had to throw him in there). While Angle was developing on the TNA roster (and subsequently getting healthier and introducing new elements to a -- perhaps -- more toned-down, MMA style), Joe could be feuding blood and guts with Christian. All the while Kurt and Joe could be building heat for their inevitable matchup.

When Joe and Angle meet in say, 3-4 months from now, they have all this mess built up because neither have been "defeated" in TNA. Catch would be that Joe had *technically* lost matches but not by pinfall or submission. This could be fuel for the fire if you book Angle to have never lost a match by any means.

First match with Joe and Angle goes the full time limit. An old-school one-hour draw. You could then follow up with at least two matches and, I think, sell PPVs like it's going out of style.

But, no, we get it sooner rather than later. Which is probably good for the instant gratification crowd, but likely bad for TNA in the long-term.

We should pool money to put a voodoo curse on Jeff Jarrett if he's loony enough to end Joe-Angle with a run-in for a face-turn. It's bad enough that Angle and Joe have nothing to really settle in the ring. Having JJ steal the spotlight would be tragic.

what could have been interesting was if Jarrett had played the instigator with Joe and Angle...