History Bites

"The golden rule of wrestling is those who constantly learn are forced to watch the product of people who never do." -- Dave Meltzer

As has been reported elsewhere, and has become quite the topic for discussion in the wrestling community is the decision by TNA to bring back Vince Russo. That's right, the master of Crash-TV. The man who gave us the 'Viagra on a Pole' match in WCW. The man who gave us Terri Runnells miscarriage in WWE. And the man who gave us Sports Entertainment Xtreme in TNA. He's back.

The reaction in the Internet Wrestling Community has not been enthusiastic. Well, unless you consider enthusiastic negativity to be an enthusiastic response. And I am on the side of those who think this be quite possibly the worst move possible for TNA.

Interestingly enough, in the past month I just re-read R.D. Reynolds' Wrestlecrap, as well as watching TNA's Phenomenal: The Best of AJ Styles DVD. Both of these serve to reassure me that Vince Russo is not the cure for TNA's ills, if there are any ills to be had.

Wrestlecrap, mediocre writing aside, is an excellent examination of some of the bad decisions that are the hallmark of Vince Russo's booking. His desire for revenge at the expense of the wrestlers, his obsession with catering to smarks, his love of swerves, and his lack of long-term planning are Russonian staples, none of which serve the interests of a wrestling company looking to become competitive in the face of a national monopoly.

The Styles DVD, while it does showcase one of the industry's top talents, is also oversaturated with Russo. To such an extent that I found myself enjoying the DVD less than one would expect. Russo made himself a centerpiece of the organization in his first run, and I believe it stands to reason that he will do so again. Unfortunately, Russo is not what people want to watch on their television sets when they tune into professional wrestling. Or, likely, any other type of television programming. People didn't want to watch Russo in WCW, they didn't want to watch him in TNA on PPV, and they won't want to watch him on TNA on SpikeTV.

Evidently the reason for this otherwise inexplicable decision is that TNA higher-ups and Panda Energy's Dixie Carter are concerned over the recent ratings drop that TNA has been experiencing. My dubiousity (is that a word?) regarding Nielsen ratings aside, I think TNA needs to look internally before looking for external solutions to the problem.

TNA has made some important and impressive moves in the past year. They brought back Sting, and, in my opinion, they have used him fairly well. They managed to keep Rhino when Vince came looking for people to add legitimacy to WWECW. They have elevated Samoa Joe. They have kept AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels fresh and entertaining. They brought in Homicide, who, despite his not yet having the opportunity to showcase his true potential, is an incredible talent. They brought in Jim Cornette, a brilliant wrestling mind and still one of the best talkers in the business. And they brought in Christian Cage, who turned down a new WWE contract to sign with the group.

The problem is that, despite all these good things, their bad decisions have been far more serious. They brought in Kevin Nash, and put him in a program that belittled and betrayed TNA's most important alternative to WWE programming, the X-Division. They brought in Earl Hebner, who offers absolutely nothing to a wrestling organization. They haven't fired Larry Zybysko, the most useless waste of space in wrestling today.

But TNA's most egregious mistake can be summed up in two letters. JJ. Double J. Jeff Jarrett. Since the beginning of the promotion, Jeff Jarrett has been presented as the centerpiece of the organization. A bitter cynic would say that TNA was founded simply as a vanity project for Jeff, a way for him to prove to the world that he's a main event player. Unfortunately, he's not. Back in Jarrett's WWE days, Steve Austin refused to do a program with Jarrett because he didn't feel Jarrett was in a position to feud with him. And in retrospect, Austin was right. Jarrett is the kind of guy who should never have risen above the mid-card in a national promotion. Sure he may have been over like Grover in Memphis, but Memphis ain't the rest of North America.

Despite all the positives that TNA has accomplished, they have all been undermined by Jeff Jarrett's ego. Sting was put in a main event program...with Jarrett. Raven finally won the title, then lost it...to Jarrett. Rhino won the title, then lost it...to Jarrett. Since his arrival in TNA, Jim Cornette has been feuding with...Jeff Jarrett. In one of TNA's most memorable moments of the year, Christian Cage beat Jeff Jarrett for the title, celebrating his victory in the ring, surrounded by TNA fans. Then, in one of the most moronic decisions ever, Cage lost the title in the overly convoluted, and insultingly planned, King of the Mountain match...to Jeff Jarrett.

Starting to notice a pattern?

In those periods when Jeff Jarrett isn't the champion, when he isn't the centerpiece of TNA, people are interested. But those periods are few and far between.

Bringing in Vince Russo is not going to solve TNA's problems. I believe he's only going to make them worse. Russo is 'friends' with Jeff Jarrett. (The word friends is quoted because friend isn't a word that can ever really apply to a relationship in the world of professional wrestling, which thrives on politics and manipulation.) He's not going to deal with the 800 lb. gorilla that is Jeff Jarrett. He's going to mess with the things that were working. He's going to make stupid decisions that don't entertain the viewers. He's going to destroy the things that could make TNA standout, and try to mimic WWE's bad decisions. Mimicing WWE is not the way to go, as their declining ratings show.

Vince Russo is not being brought in to save TNA. He's being brought in to save Jeff Jarrett. His goal will be to make Jeff Jarrett the star he believes himself to be. Unfortunately, that will never happen. Jeff Jarrett is TNA's greatest weakness, and until the people in TNA realize that, TNA will never succeed.