Post by tnafan4life on Sept 23, 2008 13:58:18 GMT -5
TNA’s biggest star has called for an end to the gimmick matches, run-ins and confusing stipulations that have been alienating fans of the wrestling group. In an exclusive interview with SunSport - conducted as he launched the company’s forthcoming UK tour – multiple-time world champion Kurt Angle laid out his vision for the future. Below we print Kurt’s brutally honest and undoubtedly controversial opinion in full and in his own words:
Being in TNA is exciting and frustrating at the same time. We’ve been doing a good job but what we need to do right now is to simplify things. We get a little bit too complicated with our gimmick matches and run-ins. I’ve spoken to the bookers, writers and owners of TNA and said: “Listen. Wrestling is very simple, keep it simple.”
Take the King Of The Mountain match. You have to put the belt on the hook, but before you do that you have to pin somebody. If you get pinned then you end up in the penalty box. When you get out the penalty box you’re still eligible to win as long as you pin somebody and then put that belt up on the hook. It’s like holy s***, it’s too f***ing confusing. And that’s one of our biggest matches of the year.
Why not just make it that someone puts the belt on the hook and they win. That’s all you’ve got to do. We can do all the same spots and have all the same energy.
We did the Hard Justice PPV in New Jersey two months ago and every bout was a gimmick match. On that show, me and AJ Styles had a Last Man Standing contest. We were getting ready to go out and they asked if I understood what the match was. I said: “Yeah – one guy stays down for a count of 10.”
And they replied: “Yes, but you’ve got to get a pinfall first before the referee counts to 10.” So for the first two or three pinfalls, the fans cheer or boo because they think the match is over and they’re like: “What’s going on?” Then they realise that you’ve got to pin somebody and count to 10, and we ended up doing seven or eight pins. Again it was made too complicated.
TNA do it because we want to be different from WWE and innovative. But what happens is sometimes we are, but then sometimes we are too old school. Let’s face it, a tar and feather match today wouldn’t go over too well. But we’ve actually done that. That’s a 1960’s match, this is 2008. We’re in an MMA world. Fans want to see mano a mano. One on one. Let’s go at it. We call ourselves Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. We say: “TNA – we are wrestling.” No we’re not. We’re f***ing gimmick matches.
Then there are the run-ins. At the last PPV, No Surrender, we had a triple threat main event between me, Christian Cage and Samoa Joe. We had a great match, but Samoa Joe won because Jeff Jarrett came in and hit me with a guitar. I would have won if Jeff didn’t do that. I believe that Joe should have kicked my ass and Christian’s ass and won straight up and then afterwards Jeff could have come in or even waited until the next night on TV and attacked me.
I’m trying to make our younger guys more popular. I let AJ beat me the last four times we wrestled for a reason. To make him a bigger star. I wanted Joe to beat me and Christian at the PPV to make him a bigger star. But what’s been happening is we have run-ins to create the wins, so I get protected. I don’t want to be protected and I don’t need to be protected. I’m having a real struggle with it. We need to back up and realise who we are and what we’re trying to get across. We have the best wrestlers in the world, WWE can’t compare. But how do we use them to our advantage? By simply wrestling, because that’s what they’re good at.
Do I agree with everything Jeff Jarrett and Dixie Carter do? No. But I am behind them 100 per cent? Yes. And they’re changing things, thank God.
You’re going to see a lot more straight up one on one and tag matches. No more of these bogus run-ins and gimmick matches.
We’re going to triple our ratings in the next year or two if we go by those guidelines. Because when you have the youngest, best and most eager wrestlers it’s so easy to draw fans by just letting them wrestle.
Being in TNA is exciting and frustrating at the same time. We’ve been doing a good job but what we need to do right now is to simplify things. We get a little bit too complicated with our gimmick matches and run-ins. I’ve spoken to the bookers, writers and owners of TNA and said: “Listen. Wrestling is very simple, keep it simple.”
Take the King Of The Mountain match. You have to put the belt on the hook, but before you do that you have to pin somebody. If you get pinned then you end up in the penalty box. When you get out the penalty box you’re still eligible to win as long as you pin somebody and then put that belt up on the hook. It’s like holy s***, it’s too f***ing confusing. And that’s one of our biggest matches of the year.
Why not just make it that someone puts the belt on the hook and they win. That’s all you’ve got to do. We can do all the same spots and have all the same energy.
We did the Hard Justice PPV in New Jersey two months ago and every bout was a gimmick match. On that show, me and AJ Styles had a Last Man Standing contest. We were getting ready to go out and they asked if I understood what the match was. I said: “Yeah – one guy stays down for a count of 10.”
And they replied: “Yes, but you’ve got to get a pinfall first before the referee counts to 10.” So for the first two or three pinfalls, the fans cheer or boo because they think the match is over and they’re like: “What’s going on?” Then they realise that you’ve got to pin somebody and count to 10, and we ended up doing seven or eight pins. Again it was made too complicated.
TNA do it because we want to be different from WWE and innovative. But what happens is sometimes we are, but then sometimes we are too old school. Let’s face it, a tar and feather match today wouldn’t go over too well. But we’ve actually done that. That’s a 1960’s match, this is 2008. We’re in an MMA world. Fans want to see mano a mano. One on one. Let’s go at it. We call ourselves Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. We say: “TNA – we are wrestling.” No we’re not. We’re f***ing gimmick matches.
Then there are the run-ins. At the last PPV, No Surrender, we had a triple threat main event between me, Christian Cage and Samoa Joe. We had a great match, but Samoa Joe won because Jeff Jarrett came in and hit me with a guitar. I would have won if Jeff didn’t do that. I believe that Joe should have kicked my ass and Christian’s ass and won straight up and then afterwards Jeff could have come in or even waited until the next night on TV and attacked me.
I’m trying to make our younger guys more popular. I let AJ beat me the last four times we wrestled for a reason. To make him a bigger star. I wanted Joe to beat me and Christian at the PPV to make him a bigger star. But what’s been happening is we have run-ins to create the wins, so I get protected. I don’t want to be protected and I don’t need to be protected. I’m having a real struggle with it. We need to back up and realise who we are and what we’re trying to get across. We have the best wrestlers in the world, WWE can’t compare. But how do we use them to our advantage? By simply wrestling, because that’s what they’re good at.
Do I agree with everything Jeff Jarrett and Dixie Carter do? No. But I am behind them 100 per cent? Yes. And they’re changing things, thank God.
You’re going to see a lot more straight up one on one and tag matches. No more of these bogus run-ins and gimmick matches.
We’re going to triple our ratings in the next year or two if we go by those guidelines. Because when you have the youngest, best and most eager wrestlers it’s so easy to draw fans by just letting them wrestle.
