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Post by Adam on Feb 13, 2008 12:52:12 GMT -5
Shark Boy
January 28, 2008
I was trying to avoid yet another article about TNA, but I’ve been swamped with email questions about last weeks episode of Impact, in particularly the debut of “Stone Cold” Shark Boy. The email that best sums up everyone’s questions on the subject was the following one:
“After a month or so of not watching TNA I come across it tonight. Only to see who I'm sure everyone is calling Shark Boy Steve Austin I suppose, make his debut? With Black Machismo and now Shark Cold. Is there something to this? I mean I don't really consider myself a "smart" or "smark" or whatever term the net is using right now. I'm just completely mind boggled really with this angle. I see no point to it besides making TNA seem like some slapstick comedy hour. I'm hoping you address this on your next post. I am just at a loss here.”
Let me start by saying I believe someone is very lost here but it is not the person who sent me this email. I believe the person (or persons) who are lost here is or are the people who book/write TNA Impact. For the most part imitations, despite the cheap pop they initially garner, just make the imitator come off second rate. Famous people never imitate average people average people imitate celebrities, so in my opinion Jay Lethal and Shark Boy come off like mark Indy workers imitating real stars, which really shouldn’t be the booking goal of the company they work for.
This concept actually came up in ECW way back when. On house shows some of the guys would do WWF gimmick moves for the cheap pop it would garner. I recall one house show when in a tag match Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman worked in a double Scotty 2 Hotty Worm spot to a huge pop from the crowd. Paul Heyman was livid and told the guys never to do stuff like that again, because it made us look second rate and inferior to the WWF. I agreed and figured if the biggest pop you could get was by imitating someone else, you didn’t really have much value as a performer.
For a company that claims to be an alternative to WWE, having guys on their show impersonate guys from WWE seems even crazier. I will grant you that the impersonations are quite good and most people watching the show likely enjoyed them, but I don’t see where it can go from here. I seriously doubt there are plans to push Shark Cold into a top PPV spot program, and even if there are, the Stone Cold imitation will get old very quickly. Black Machismo has lasted longer, primarily because Jay Lethal is a damn talented kid whose abilities warrant a PPV spot on his own, but Shark Boy is a dead end comedy gimmick that will never draw money, and seeing him do a Thesz press and stomp a guy in the corner will not carry a match on PPV.
In the end Shark Cold will likely not amount to anything more than a short term comedy pop on 2 or 3 Impact shows and then run it’s course and be dropped. All in all it will end up being just a big waste of valuable airtime. Impact is TNA’s primary vehicle for selling PPVs and establishing stars and the company’s image. Time should not be wasted playing ribs, or doing inside jokes just to entertain the boys. TNA needs to spend every second of their Impact air time establishing their own image and getting their top guy and PPV angles over, to generate revenue. Only then will TNA and Impact be a success.
Lance Storm
Credit: Stormwrestling.com
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Post by tnafan4life on Feb 13, 2008 13:00:36 GMT -5
I don't like it really. When he did it on TNA Today way back when it was funny, the first time on iMPACT it was funny, now it is just eh. He can't work a match IMO.
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brethartfan97
Main Eventer
Joined on: Jul 10, 2006 0:59:31 GMT -5
Posts: 1,994
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Post by brethartfan97 on Feb 13, 2008 13:17:43 GMT -5
Sharkboy was a glorified jobber before. He's winning matches and getting TV time now. I think that's proof enough.
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Adam3s - V1
Main Eventer
Joined on: Mar 12, 2006 8:41:51 GMT -5
Posts: 1,794
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Post by Adam3s - V1 on Feb 13, 2008 13:57:23 GMT -5
Sharkboy was a glorified jobber before. He's winning matches and getting TV time now. I think that's proof enough. Proof of what? That TNA can't book at all and if something is ex-WWE is deserves mroe right to be pushed. It took both Sharkboy and Lethal to start doing WWE stuff before their pushed in the alternative company, seriously how bad is that for booking. Sharkboy deserves to be released he was one fo those people who were a TNA original because they didn't have the money to higher better wrestlers not because they saw real talent in him. When you see SG not liking something in TNA, you know that it's not good for buisness. No offence. |
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Post by tnafan4life on Feb 13, 2008 14:17:30 GMT -5
Non taken. I think it works for Lethal because Lethal is still "Lethal". You still see alot of his own moves & mixed it with Macho Man. Plus, he wasn't a jobber and you add on the fact he actually does it GOOD unlike Sharky who does it so shitty it isn't funny. And reports saying it stays if he gets over. How will they tell? He wasn't at AAO & only on shows in Orlando. Dixie Carter taking a crap in a paper bag will get over.. prime example - O.D.B.
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Post by Adam on Feb 13, 2008 15:17:15 GMT -5
See that's what I don't like about it. It couldn't be anymore unoriginal, and it will probably go nowhere.
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Adam3s - V1
Main Eventer
Joined on: Mar 12, 2006 8:41:51 GMT -5
Posts: 1,794
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Post by Adam3s - V1 on Feb 13, 2008 15:23:47 GMT -5
Yeah with Lethal it's more Lethal showing admiration for Savage and taking some of his style and mixing it with his own sort of like, although more blantant, Ric Flair with Buddy Rogers. While Sharkboy is more imitation like Gillberg but cheaper and just straight up crap at it.
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Post by Heresy on Feb 13, 2008 16:59:12 GMT -5
Meh, Jay Lethal is still imitating Macho Man no matter how you spin it... they're still making reference to a WWE gimmick with the intention of profitting from it.
"I agreed and figured if the biggest pop you could get was by imitating someone else, you didn?t really have much value as a performer. "
I've been thinking this for quite some time... if the best TNA can do is use WWE wrestlers, WWE gimmicks and WWE ideas, they don't have much value as a promotion. Any company with a strong backing can have a bunch of talented workers. It takes a special promotion to take those talented workers and blend them with it's own ideas in a way that is both entertaining and logical.
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Post by Mark on Feb 13, 2008 18:30:26 GMT -5
TNA is watching too many Raw's from 2000 but mixing it all up
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Post by deskjet on Feb 13, 2008 19:23:34 GMT -5
Whatever, Its entertaining and is serving its purpose whether Lance or anyone else likes it. I'm so sick of people picking stuff to death, nothing will ever be exactly how everyone wants it. Never has, never will
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Post by King Shocker the Monumentous on Feb 13, 2008 19:38:16 GMT -5
Paul Heyman was livid and told the guys never to do stuff like that again, because it made us look second rate and inferior to the WWF. I agreed and figured if the biggest pop you could get was by imitating someone else, you didn’t really have much value as a performer. And people wonder why I think Paul E. Heyman and Lance T. Storm should work for TNA. |
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Post by CBT on Feb 13, 2008 20:20:38 GMT -5
Paul Heyman was livid and told the guys never to do stuff like that again, because it made us look second rate and inferior to the WWF. I agreed and figured if the biggest pop you could get was by imitating someone else, you didn’t really have much value as a performer. And people wonder why I think Paul E. Heyman and Lance T. Storm should work for TNA. Last I checked, neither man is suicidal. |
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Post by Controversial Maverick PUNK on Feb 13, 2008 23:51:44 GMT -5
This concept actually came up in ECW way back when. On house shows some of the guys would do WWF gimmick moves for the cheap pop it would garner. I recall one house show when in a tag match Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman worked in a double Scotty 2 Hotty Worm spot to a huge pop from the crowd. Paul Heyman was livid and told the guys never to do stuff like that again, because it made us look second rate and inferior to the WWF.They were inferior and second rate to the WWF, though... not doing imitations of WWF stars wasn't going to change that... |
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Post by deskjet on Feb 14, 2008 0:00:25 GMT -5
Paul Heyman was livid and told the guys never to do stuff like that again, because it made us look second rate and inferior to the WWF. I agreed and figured if the biggest pop you could get was by imitating someone else, you didn’t really have much value as a performer. And people wonder why I think Paul E. Heyman and Lance T. Storm should work for TNA. Really? Is this the same ECW run by Paul Heyman in which steve Austin acted like Hulk Hogan? Is this the same Heyman run ECW that made money from merchandise sales of the b.W.o? Is this the same company that had Matt Borne dressed like Doink before turning him bad? Just wandering. couldnt see the genius Paul Heyman trying to garner a little money by getting a rub from the competition via parodies  |
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Post by King Shocker the Monumentous on Feb 14, 2008 0:06:55 GMT -5
This concept actually came up in ECW way back when. On house shows some of the guys would do WWF gimmick moves for the cheap pop it would garner. I recall one house show when in a tag match Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman worked in a double Scotty 2 Hotty Worm spot to a huge pop from the crowd. Paul Heyman was livid and told the guys never to do stuff like that again, because it made us look second rate and inferior to the WWF.They were inferior and second rate to the WWF, though... not doing imitations of WWF stars wasn't going to change that... ECW was always all about playing up strengths and hiding weaknesses. Imitating WWF stars falls under the category of playing up a weakness. And if ECW was so inferior and second rate, why did the WWF and WCW both co-opt their concepts and talent? WCW's Cruiserweight division and WWF's Hardcore division were both directly inspired by ECW, and it can be argued that the Monday Night Wars could've turned out a lot differently without them. |
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Post by King Shocker the Monumentous on Feb 14, 2008 0:11:11 GMT -5
And people wonder why I think Paul E. Heyman and Lance T. Storm should work for TNA. Really? Is this the same ECW run by Paul Heyman in which steve Austin acted like Hulk Hogan? Is this the same Heyman run ECW that made money from merchandise sales of the b.W.o? Is this the same company that had Matt Borne dressed like Doink before turning him bad? Just wandering. couldnt see the genius Paul Heyman trying to garner a little money by getting a rub from the competition via parodies Monday Nyquil, Steveamania, the bWo, yes, these were all parodies. But Black Machismo and Shark Boy 24:7 are more like tributes. Austin and the bWo's main intent was to poke fun and point out the absurdities of WWF and WCW, whereas these are Shark Boy and Lethal's actual gimmicks, intended to get them over. Sure, Christian Cage put on white pants and grabbed a guitar once, but you don't see him strutting and calling himself Double C every damn week. |
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Post by Hollywood Asia on Feb 14, 2008 2:35:33 GMT -5
ECW storylines actually made sense, can't say the same for TNA or Russo era WCW/WWF.
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Post by deskjet on Feb 14, 2008 8:12:26 GMT -5
ECW storylines actually made sense, can't say the same for TNA or Russo era WCW/WWF. Nice definitive arguement there. |
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Post by deskjet on Feb 14, 2008 8:15:21 GMT -5
Really? Is this the same ECW run by Paul Heyman in which steve Austin acted like Hulk Hogan? Is this the same Heyman run ECW that made money from merchandise sales of the b.W.o? Is this the same company that had Matt Borne dressed like Doink before turning him bad? Just wandering. couldnt see the genius Paul Heyman trying to garner a little money by getting a rub from the competition via parodies Monday Nyquil, Steveamania, the bWo, yes, these were all parodies. But Black Machismo and Shark Boy 24:7 are more like tributes. Austin and the bWo's main intent was to poke fun and point out the absurdities of WWF and WCW, whereas these are Shark Boy and Lethal's actual gimmicks, intended to get them over. Sure, Christian Cage put on white pants and grabbed a guitar once, but you don't see him strutting and calling himself Double C every damn week. Oh please you know darn well ECW intended to profit from the success from the NWO...and again...whats so wrong with that? WCW got there nwo idea from Japan and it made them successful...doing parodies does not mean you're uncreative or second rate...if anything it makes the product more interesting, but some of you cant see that. I just love how people turn the same argument to fit their own bias-It's clearly the same thing, and paraodies have clearly gottn the same reactions-entertainment...whether it be in ECW, WWE, TNA etc |
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CSUMB84
Superstar
Joined on: Jan 4, 2005 3:24:32 GMT -5
Posts: 635
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Post by CSUMB84 on Feb 14, 2008 13:11:40 GMT -5
And people wonder why I think Paul E. Heyman and Lance T. Storm should work for TNA. Really? Is this the same ECW run by Paul Heyman in which steve Austin acted like Hulk Hogan? Is this the same Heyman run ECW that made money from merchandise sales of the b.W.o? Is this the same company that had Matt Borne dressed like Doink before turning him bad? Just wandering. couldnt see the genius Paul Heyman trying to garner a little money by getting a rub from the competition via parodies If you would actually do research before posting, you would see the following: There is a huge >:(n' difference between ECW parodies and TNA using a copycat gimmick for one of its wrestlers. Austin acting like Hogan and Bischoff was just his way of venting his frustration after being released from WCW and was only done in backstage segments. Those parodies were NOT Austin's character in ECW. When Austin wrestled, he was "Superstar" Steve Austin, not Hulk Austin or Steve Bischoff. As for the B.W.O, both Heyman and Stevie Richards have stated it just started as a one-night spoof that the crowd just ate up and ran with it. If you actually watched old ECW films, you would hear Joey Styles say on a nightly basis "IF there was one group that didn't deserve to make a dime, its these guys" when referring to the B.W.O. If you want to take a shot at Heyman for running ECW and losing money, pretty hard to take a shot at him when it is a fact that TNA in 2004 and 2005 respectively lost more money those years than Heyman lost in 7-years of running ECW. |
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