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NWA-TNA: I don't get it

Tom_ImpPosted on 04/26/03 at 02:36:45

Well, not only don't I get it where I live, I also don't get it in the sense of understanding it.

I try to keep up with it by reading results so the wrestlers seem familiar to me when I want to use them in my circuit. That said, the results are confusing the heck out of me.

I can see the appeal of the standard face vs heel match as well as the face vs face match, but all these results I'm reading are having heel vs heel. In case Jarrett wasn't paying attention during his years with WCW and the WWF, people don't get into heel vs heel matches. Imagine having to sit through an A-Train vs Big Show match.   :P

Anyway, here's what I'm getting at. Over in NWA-TNA you've got the Disciples of the New Church (heels) battling both Team Extreme (heels) and also the Harris Brothers (heels). Then there is the enigma known as Jeff Jarrett (face or heel?) No one seems to have an exact grasp as to which he is. xavierflair here said he is a bad babyface like Austin was, yet in TNM UK's export files he's listed as a heel. Right now he's involved in a feud with Raven (heel) so that should make Jarrett a face, but in the past he fluctuated back and forth. Even Austin with his bad babyface persona didn't wrestle the faces.

I'm just curious, what's the deal with this federation? Do they even have a clue that they are doing this and for those who get to watch it, ar the fans into all this heel vs heel action?
Critic_of_the_DawnPosted on 04/26/03 at 03:15:08

From the very little bit that I've seen of TNA, plus from the results I've read, the face/heel structure is a bit unusual.

Jeff Jarrett is a tweener with face-ish leanings.  He supports the NWA against SEX, but has grown paranoid enough about his title that he doesn't distinguish between friend and foe, as everyone wants to defeat him so they can claim it.

Raven and his Apostles have been heels since arriving; Raven was brought in by Vince Russo as one of the main forces for the SEX stable (which is definately predominantly heel).  When SEX began pushing to aquire the services of AJ Styles, Raven became seemingly preoccupied with battling Sandman, who appeared to face him seemingly from nowhere.  Eventually, after AJ Styles failed to defeat Jarrett and SEX pushed Raven as their new challenger.

In the meantime, The New Church (badass "evil" faces, essentially) began to face down Sandman and Saturn after Saturn refused to join the New Church.  Sandman and Saturn were also faces by default (Sandman had faced Raven, after all), aimed at appealing to the old ECW audience.  New Jack and Justin Credible return, building up anticipation for an ECW reuinion of sorts.  The New Church brings in Mike Awesome as a counter.  The Harris Brothers are basically the enforcers of SEX, and when they were involved, they played the heels.

Then BOOM, last week happens.  

In the Main Event, it's revealed that Raven is responsible for for bringing in the ex-ECWers to support him, most likely because he feels that SEX is willing to marginalize him if they feel it is to their advantage.  Now Raven has a powerful group backing him.  Team Extreme has turned itself heel by aligning with him... except there have been hints about this happening for weeks, if you've watched closely.  Sandman rather abruptly stopped feuding with Raven, and he's been wearing Raven shirts for weeks now without doing anything to call attention to it.  And Team Extreme has been feuding with one of the more visible stables on TNA, apparently to eliminate them as a group that can effectively oppose Raven.

So the New Church vs. Team Extreme feud has actually been face vs. heel since the beginning.  But the group you might have thought was more likely to be the face were in fact the heels and visa versa.  By proving themselves dominant over both the enforcers of SEX and the New Church, Team Extreme has built up Raven as a new power within TNA, one that apparently doesn't care about tradition or sports entertainment, and who simply wants the title and the prestiege that goes along with it for himself.

It's a swerve, and it actually makes sense.  When was the last time we had one of those in WWE?

Anyway, that's my impression.  I don't get to watch TNA very often, so it may be incorrect on some counts.  But I'm reasonably sure that most of it is right.

Eric "Critic of the Dawn"
pszPosted on 04/26/03 at 03:55:25

Sandman vs Raven out of no where?  I always considered them in a state of "Perma-Feud"... Kinda like Raven and Tommy Dreamer. They may be on the same team or side for awhile, but they'll always be feuding :->
Tom_ImpPosted on 04/26/03 at 04:10:53

I really wish they showed this fed in my area. Even though it's kinda confusing, it sounds a lot fresher than the garbage the WWE puts out every week.
Critic_of_the_DawnPosted on 04/26/03 at 07:58:02

On 04/26/03 at 03:55:25, psz wrote:Sandman vs Raven out of no where? I always considered them in a state of "Perma-Feud"... Kinda like Raven and Tommy Dreamer. They may be on the same team or side for awhile, but they'll always be feuding :->
Granted.  There's quite a bit of history there.

Eric "Critic of the Dawn"
pszPosted on 04/26/03 at 15:14:00

Heh. Reading it reminds me of when I first started watching ECW... The faces used chairs, and people clapped when the heels did something amazing.

On top of which, EVERY tag team was fighting each other, and hell, most of the singles were too. It took me two months of ECW (8 eps) to figure out that DeVon and BubbaRay WERE faces, but that DeVon was turning Heel, and that BigD.ick was coming back and that The Eliminators were... Faces? And the Gangstas were... Heels? Or was it the other way around?!? And Dreamer and Sandman hated Raven, but... They... Fought each other, and.. and... and... *head exploded, circa 1996*