WI TNA/Impact Wrestling had hired Paul Heyman?

Simple really, what would TNA wrestlin g be like now if they had opted to have Paul Heyman be head booker and help run the company rather than Hulk Hogan & Eric Bischoff?

Heyman's track record is both good and bad as he has the eye for talent an developing it on and off screen but at the same time his financial control was less than desirable as it was said on the rise & fall of ECW dvd that financially he was awful.

Would TNA be in a much better position than it is now or still in the same place taking one step forward and two steps back?
 
I watched an interview recently, actually i think it was a youtube video for a podcast but the content of the video was Heyman being interviewed and asked about what would his plans for TNA have been and he said pretty much the following.

He would have pushed the homegrown stars more, only keeping a few senior wrestlers who would remain to help get the younger stars over, a situation similar to Terry Funk's role in ECW, something that Heyman mentions during that interview. I don;t think we would have seen Flair's arrival in TNA if that was the case but it got me thinking that as of January 2010 TNA had a few older wrestlers like Kevin Nash who were only there for the money and light workload, I wonder would he have stayed under Heyman as his booking skills are notoriously biased towards himself and making the most money he can. Would he put the youngsters over if Heyman asked him to?

One scenario I know for a fact would happen is the removal of Vince Russo as head writer, the man has no talent and is to this day ruining TNA with his week by week storylines, never developing them into anything more than a quick flash in the pan in the comapny's history.

Any further comments/opinions?
 
I've responded to previous Heyman & TNA threads, but not since his interview about it earlier this year.

In Roster terms, the only two guys over 40 who would be kept would have been Kurt Angle and Jeff Jarrett. The former because with TNA/Impact Wrestling was always more wrestling focus up and down the card and the latter because Jarrett not only founded the company he still owns a small percentage of it. Say good bye to Sting and Kevin Nash, along with never seeing Ric Flair, the Nasty Boyz, and the vast majority of the old ECW guys save Rob Van Dam. Mick Foley will move back to a leadership position or over to commentary. The roster will focus on the homegrown talent and grab wrestlers (both male and female) from ROH and the indy scene.

As for the booking and quality of storylines, Vince Russo will be dismissed and everyone else on the booking committee will need to prove they should remain on it with Heyman in charge. Not only in ECW but his time in the WWE de facto head of Smackdown before being shifted to OVW, Heyman proved he can create a great product and TNA/Impact Wrestling will benefit.

Since the move to regular cable the period of TNA/Impact Wrestling best work was from September 2009 to Decemeber 2009 at least, it might have began in August with the AJ Styles-Matt Morgan best-of-X series. If Paul Heyman would have taken over right after that period...I'm comfortable with saying that Impact would be around a solid 2 cable TV rating right now. Considering that the WWE gets roughly a 3.0 rating that would make TNA/Impact Wrestling the solid #2 company that would force Vince to make changes to his product or risk some mainstream media attention finding TNA/Impact Wrestling.

But for that to happen, Dixie Carter and Heyman need to compromise on the financial issue.
 
I've responded to previous Heyman & TNA threads, but not since his interview about it earlier this year.

In Roster terms, the only two guys over 40 who would be kept would have been Kurt Angle and Jeff Jarrett. The former because with TNA/Impact Wrestling was always more wrestling focus up and down the card and the latter because Jarrett not only founded the company he still owns a small percentage of it. Say good bye to Sting and Kevin Nash, along with never seeing Ric Flair, the Nasty Boyz, and the vast majority of the old ECW guys save Rob Van Dam. Mick Foley will move back to a leadership position or over to commentary. The roster will focus on the homegrown talent and grab wrestlers (both male and female) from ROH and the indy scene.

As for the booking and quality of storylines, Vince Russo will be dismissed and everyone else on the booking committee will need to prove they should remain on it with Heyman in charge. Not only in ECW but his time in the WWE de facto head of Smackdown before being shifted to OVW, Heyman proved he can create a great product and TNA/Impact Wrestling will benefit.

Since the move to regular cable the period of TNA/Impact Wrestling best work was from September 2009 to Decemeber 2009 at least, it might have began in August with the AJ Styles-Matt Morgan best-of-X series. If Paul Heyman would have taken over right after that period...I'm comfortable with saying that Impact would be around a solid 2 cable TV rating right now. Considering that the WWE gets roughly a 3.0 rating that would make TNA/Impact Wrestling the solid #2 company that would force Vince to make changes to his product or risk some mainstream media attention finding TNA/Impact Wrestling.

But for that to happen, Dixie Carter and Heyman need to compromise on the financial issue.

Thanks for replying :) I've just started a TNA TL now from the January 4th 2010 episode where Hogan debuted, it isn't great but gonna stick to it and try and improve.

I agree with you with the whole Nash/Sting and other vets leaving due to Heyman's obvious leanings towards youth and having their inflated egos and wages off the books would free up a lot of money to be put into other wrestlers and also the product.

Russo also would be gone as he hasn't contributed anything decent really since he worked for WWF/WWE under Vince. Heyman has proved consistently that his booking is some of the best you will see in the US in this era and adapted to the WWE style in an almost fluid manner whilst retaining the edge of the ECW style he helped create. So future TNA booking with him I can see carrying that on and in some ways 'reviving' TNA's fortunes that during that priod despite some quality rivalries were on the wane.

A lack of Flair IMO would be fantastic as being in TNA has done nothing but demolish his reputation and tarnish what his legacy was. I can't see RVD joining though, it took Hogan on a radio show calling him personally to get him there and RVD doesn't need the money and would rather chill out at home with his wife.

Mick Foley, who I heard has a stake in the company I would like to see him retained as either a commentator or some form of GM capacity but definitely helping the youth as he did IC during the main event mafia story arc.

Can't they just fire JJ. I cannot stand him! haha.
 
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