Title: TNA's Cross The Line Campaign
Jillie - April 22, 2008 06:58 PM (GMT)
from wrestleview.com
| QUOTE |
The following was issued by TNA Wrestling today:
TOTAL NONSTOP ACTION (TNA) WRESTLING CROSSES THE LINE
TNA WRESTLING LAUNCHES ‘CROSS THE LINE’ CAMPAIGN TO CHALLENGE FANS ACROSS THE WORLD TO CHANGE THE FUTURE OF PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Nashville, Tenn. (April 21, 2008) – Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling today officially announced its launch of “Cross The Line,” a worldwide marketing campaign to brand TNA as a call to action for fans of professional wrestling.
“Cross The Line” will encourage fans who have never watched TNA to try it, current TNA fans to recruit others, wrestling stars from around the world to cross the line and join TNA, and it’s the official launch of TNA’s revolution to call out the competition. The “Cross The Line” will be supported by a multi-layer advertising and marketing campaign including electronic and print placements and a variety of interactive initiatives.
During its first-ever live telecast of “TNA iMPACT!” March 27 on Spike TV, TNA premiered “Cross The Line” with a 30-second commercial, a new opening ID tag, and new graphics. Wrestling fans who attended from around the globe became the first to symbolically “Cross The Line” over yellow TNA “caution tape” as they entered into the “iMPACT Zone” at Universal Studios Orlando. “iMPACT” drew capacity crowds for both the live event and two additional shows throughout the weekend, with thousands more fans being turned away.
“TNA iMPACT!” has grown viewership of its original weekly episode airing to 1.5 million viewers on average per week, which more than doubles the original total average viewership from its debut shows on Spike TV in October 2005.
“We have been overwhelmed by the support and passion of TNA fans. Their demand for TNA can’t be silenced, and that energy is what ‘Cross The Line’ is all about. Nothing challenges the establishment of professional wrestling more than the sound of millions of wrestling fans chanting ‘TNA,’” said TNA President Dixie Carter.
“TNA iMPACT!” is now available in over 120 countries worldwide and will debut on major channels in Spain, Australia and Germany in 2008. Beyond television, fans can literally become part of the interactive experience with the “TNA Live!” tour. In just under a year since its launch, “TNA Live!” has toured across the United States, Canada and Japan, with more than 60 dates scheduled for the remainder of 2008 in North America, the United Kingdom and Asia.
Anticipation is building as this summer brings TNA’s biggest licensed product ever with the debut of Midway Games’ “TNA iMPACT!,” a next-gen console video game. With more than 25 TNA superstars and the most realistic game play and graphics to date, the video game media have dubbed “iMPACT” the most eagerly awaited pro wrestling game ever. That same buzz is building around TNA action figures, as Jakks Pacific, the worldwide leader in wrestling action figures, shocked the world at ToyFare 2008 by announcing it would produce the exclusive line of TNA action figures for 2010.
Cross the line to TNA Wrestling, the most innovative experience in professional wrestling today. Join Olympic Gold Medalist Kurt Angle, “The Icon” Sting, Samoa Joe, A.J. Styles and the no-limits X-Division inside the six-sided ring of “TNA iMPACT!” every Thursday from 9:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT only on Spike TV.
TNA Entertainment, LLC is a privately held company headquartered in Nashville, Tenn.
Cross The Line at www.tnawrestling.com. |
Thoughts?
whitemilesdavis - April 22, 2008 07:01 PM (GMT)
They put on something worth watching and they won't have to put out these kind of useless press releases.
dynamite kido - April 22, 2008 08:12 PM (GMT)
| QUOTE (whitemilesdavis @ Apr 22 2008, 01:01 PM) |
| They put on something worth watching and they won't have to put out these kind of useless press releases. |
Ditto like a motherfucker.
They should also be starting a campaign called "please for Christ's sake please order our PPV's".
KSSassy - April 23, 2008 09:21 AM (GMT)
The only positive thing I have to say about TNA right now is that Samoa Joe has the title and Karen Angle hasn't been on iMPACT.
I still don't purchase their pay per views.
Jillie - April 23, 2008 06:34 PM (GMT)
Wow. Such TNAnimosity around here! What the heck!?
dynamite kido - April 23, 2008 06:37 PM (GMT)
| QUOTE (Jillie @ Apr 23 2008, 12:34 PM) |
| Wow. Such TNAnimosity around here! What the heck!? |
They're fucking terrible. That's what the heck.
I used to be one of the more avid TNA fans here and I've completely turned on them over the last year or so. They don't do anything of value IMO.
Joe was one of the my favorite wrestlers when he was first brought in, now he has the title and I couldn't care less about it.
Jillie - April 23, 2008 06:48 PM (GMT)
IMO the shows TNA puts on are SO much better than WWE. I prefer the smaller wrestlers and their styles, you know, the wrestlers WWE shits upon? Plus, all my favourite wrestlers are now either at TNA (Christian, Angle) or dead (Benoit, Guerrero), so there is no reason for me to watch the WWE screw up with the careers of good wrestlers (Jericho) and push monstrous men that couldn't wrestle out of a paper bag (Khali, etc).
KSSassy - April 23, 2008 06:51 PM (GMT)
| QUOTE (dynamite kido @ Apr 23 2008, 12:37 PM) |
| QUOTE (Jillie @ Apr 23 2008, 12:34 PM) | | Wow. Such TNAnimosity around here! What the heck!? |
They're fucking terrible. That's what the heck.
I used to be one of the more avid TNA fans here and I've completely turned on them over the last year or so. They don't do anything of value IMO.
Joe was one of the my favorite wrestlers when he was first brought in, now he has the title and I couldn't care less about it.
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I've heard that Samoa Joe has gone downhill in the ring since he left ROH. I've only seen him in one ROH match and that was against Homicide...which made me believe Homicide made a mistake moving to TNA.
I didn't see that much that was different with Joe in that match.
Erick Von Erich - April 23, 2008 06:54 PM (GMT)
To be fair, I don't think folks around here are creaming their pants over the current WWE product, either.
SamoaRowe - April 23, 2008 07:13 PM (GMT)
| QUOTE (KSSassy @ Apr 23 2008, 12:51 PM) |
| QUOTE (dynamite kido @ Apr 23 2008, 12:37 PM) | | QUOTE (Jillie @ Apr 23 2008, 12:34 PM) | | Wow. Such TNAnimosity around here! What the heck!? |
They're fucking terrible. That's what the heck.
I used to be one of the more avid TNA fans here and I've completely turned on them over the last year or so. They don't do anything of value IMO.
Joe was one of the my favorite wrestlers when he was first brought in, now he has the title and I couldn't care less about it.
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I've heard that Samoa Joe has gone downhill in the ring since he left ROH. I've only seen him in one ROH match and that was against Homicide...which made me believe Homicide made a mistake moving to TNA.
I didn't see that much that was different with Joe in that match.
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I love Samoa Joe as much as anyone, but I'd say he was more or less phoning it in during his last six months with ROH. And nothing he's done in TNA since leaving ROH has really caught my interest until Lockdown.
Though you can ask the guys here, I was one of the biggest TNA marks about three years ago.
Big F'N Swigg - April 23, 2008 07:43 PM (GMT)
Hell, half of this board (if not more) know each other from talking in a TNA forum elsewhere.
I myself have been loathing TNA in the past year, but the past few weeks have been slow but steady improvement.
KSSassy - April 23, 2008 08:00 PM (GMT)
| QUOTE (Big F'N Swigg @ Apr 23 2008, 01:43 PM) |
Hell, half of this board (if not more) know each other from talking in a TNA forum elsewhere.
I myself have been loathing TNA in the past year, but the past few weeks have been slow but steady improvement. |
When I first started watching TNA, it was awesome stuff. I couldn't wait for Thursday night and that one hour show. Then they went to two hours and I was looking to see if McMahon had purchased TNA -- that's how bad it got and from there it went to worse. Now that Karen Angle has gone missing and Samoa Joe has the title and Booker T is about to take a heel turn, business may pick up but if I see KING Booker come out of all of this it will be time to look up how to make a Vince Russo voodoo doll...
dynamite kido - April 23, 2008 08:16 PM (GMT)
| QUOTE (Jillie @ Apr 23 2008, 12:48 PM) |
| IMO the shows TNA puts on are SO much better than WWE. I prefer the smaller wrestlers and their styles, you know, the wrestlers WWE shits upon? Plus, all my favourite wrestlers are now either at TNA (Christian, Angle) or dead (Benoit, Guerrero), so there is no reason for me to watch the WWE screw up with the careers of good wrestlers (Jericho) and push monstrous men that couldn't wrestle out of a paper bag (Khali, etc). |
Are they really? It's not like they are letting them loose. Since Russo has started booking there and since they've gone to two hours they've done nothing but squander all of the "smaller guys". Also, Christian might have been better when he first went there, but I'd say that his whole WWE run was better than his TNA stuff. He was completely thrown on the backburner since Angle showed up. Honestly at this point I see Angle as completely useless too. He's not as good in the ring as many give him credit for and honestly if the WWE let him go like they did....there was SOMETHING wrong. I don't see Vince just handing his Main Eventers over to a company that's supposed to be their competition.
Also and I've said this several times here, but if you are expecting wrestling from Khali then you're missing the point completely.
They haven't done anything to "ruin" Jericho either.....he's done a good enough job of that on his own.
SamoaRowe - April 23, 2008 08:46 PM (GMT)
I'd say that Christian's run in TNA is arguably better than his WWE run. His WWE run was noteworthy for the awesome tag matches with Edge, none of his singles work there was ever that noteworthy. Christian's rise as a cult fan favorite in 2005 was impressive, him leaving for TNA after WWE decided not to act on it made sense at the time.
As a singles star in TNA, Christian has put together a very nice resume. He delivers almost every time he's put into a main event situation, whether it be against Joe or Angle, and he's done so in a lot of non-gimmick match environments. He just comes off now as having a much more complete worker and has a more accomplished resume than if he'd stayed on Smackdown (of course then some people will argue that nothing that happens in TNA counts, but I don't follow that mind set).
I don't think Angle is all together useless, but he has been over exposed in TNA, and he can't put on consistently great matches like he used to. His Lockdown match with Joe was probably the first Angle match I've really gotten into since his initial matches with Joe in 2006, and maybe one or two outings he had with Christian.
KSSassy - April 23, 2008 09:01 PM (GMT)
| QUOTE (SamoaRowe @ Apr 23 2008, 02:46 PM) |
I'd say that Christian's run in TNA is arguably better than his WWE run. His WWE run was noteworthy for the awesome tag matches with Edge, none of his singles work there was ever that noteworthy. Christian's rise as a cult fan favorite in 2005 was impressive, him leaving for TNA after WWE decided not to act on it made sense at the time.
As a singles star in TNA, Christian has put together a very nice resume. He delivers almost every time he's put into a main event situation, whether it be against Joe or Angle, and he's done so in a lot of non-gimmick match environments. He just comes off now as having a much more complete worker and has a more accomplished resume than if he'd stayed on Smackdown (of course then some people will argue that nothing that happens in TNA counts, but I don't follow that mind set).
I don't think Angle is all together useless, but he has been over exposed in TNA, and he can't put on consistently great matches like he used to. His Lockdown match with Joe was probably the first Angle match I've really gotten into since his initial matches with Joe in 2006, and maybe one or two outings he had with Christian. |
I am a Christian fan and have been for a long time -- must have been those first ladder matches that did the trick. And I think you are correct in that if Christian had stayed with WWE, he would have been just another roster guy and never gotten a big push like he has in TNA.
No matter what you say about Christian, he can wrestle, brawl, whine, cry, be hated, be loved, and is a plus to TNA.
If TNA would continue to push Kaz in a positive way, he would be another great.
And I can't complain enough about the X-Division not being used as it was when the "X-Division" was initiated.
dynamite kido - April 23, 2008 10:47 PM (GMT)
| QUOTE |
| I'd say that Christian's run in TNA is arguably better than his WWE run. His WWE run was noteworthy for the awesome tag matches with Edge, none of his singles work there was ever that noteworthy. Christian's rise as a cult fan favorite in 2005 was impressive, him leaving for TNA after WWE decided not to act on it made sense at the time. |
I don't see how you can argue it at all. In the WWE Christian was in more memorable matches when he was in a tag team than he has during his entire TNA run. I'm not saying he wasn't mishandled by the WWE during his run, but he got to TNA, they started giving him the star treatment, and then he got bumped to the background. That is once the WWE rejects came there.
| QUOTE |
| As a singles star in TNA, Christian has put together a very nice resume. He delivers almost every time he's put into a main event situation, whether it be against Joe or Angle, and he's done so in a lot of non-gimmick match environments. He just comes off now as having a much more complete worker and has a more accomplished resume than if he'd stayed on Smackdown (of course then some people will argue that nothing that happens in TNA counts, but I don't follow that mind set). |
Honestly, I think Christian has devolved a but since starting there. Mainly because in TNA there is virtually NO difference between face and heel. He has never had a strong character in TNA and to be honest, that's his strength. Otherwise he's not that special of a worker. Sure, he busts his ass but I've always thought his moveset was pretty weak and if he can't be a good heel then there is almost no point to him being there.
| QUOTE |
| I don't think Angle is all together useless, but he has been over exposed in TNA, and he can't put on consistently great matches like he used to. His Lockdown match with Joe was probably the first Angle match I've really gotten into since his initial matches with Joe in 2006, and maybe one or two outings he had with Christian. |
Maybe not all together useless, but he's been horribly devalued. He's a former shell of himself and he's honestly getting by on reputation at this point. After wrestling Sting and Joe several times there is very little interesting work for him in TNA. Of course that's where bookers come into play, but I'm not expecting them to have a clue in TNA.
Jillie - April 24, 2008 06:54 PM (GMT)
I love Christian. I thought it was criminal what the WWE did to him...pushing him as competition to Cena then tossing him aside. In the WWE he was treated as a rookie, an up and comer, a guy who needed more work to make it, even though he had been with the company for years and years. In TNA he is presented like the seasoned performer he is, at the same level as other established wrestlers. I have never been anything but impressed with Christian’s matches since switching to TNA, and the fact that he’s on the backburner now according to DK is not a valid argument. At Lockdown, there were TWO main events. The first one was Team Christian vs Team Tomko, a feud that has been dominating TNA for some months now, and the second was Angle vs Joe. This indicates to me that TNA is putting as much importance on Christian’s feud as they are Angle’s.
DK also pointed out that Christian’s strength is his character, not his wrestling. This is mostly true, IMO, in TNA, where there are slew of very good wrestlers; Angle, Joe, Sting, any of the X Division guys, Booker, etc etc. However, when Christian was in WWE, he was one of the better wrestlers by far, up there with, again, Angle, Benoit, Guerrero, Jericho etc. And we all know how well the WWE treated everyone on THAT list (with the exception of Angle).
Jericho should be treated the same way, IMO, but never will be because he’s a) Canadian (that’s a WHOLE other rant for another day) and B) small. That Jericho chose to rejoin the WWE instead of going to TNA was his own mistake, and a big one, at that.
Anyway, I agree with DK once again about Angle’s feud options being slim right now, but I’m looking forward to seeing what they’ll do with him.
I’d like to add that I never NEVER liked Booker in the WWE. He was annoying and his wrestling moveset seemed truncated to me. I must say that since seeing his work in TNA I have grown to appreciate the guy a lot more.
Also, TNA has an incredible women’s division, untouchable by WWE. It’s clear that while the WWE hires women for their looks and considers wrestling talent a bonus, TNA hires women for their talent and considers their looks a bonus. I even like Angelina Love and that other thing she wrestles with, and anyone who knows me from another board will tell you I HATE skanky women wreslters. Well, Love and whateverhernameisthatican’tremembernow are just as skanky as any of the WWE whores, but they can WRESTLE. And do you think WWE would ever hire Kong? ODB? O, but wait! They DID hire ODB. They shoved her into OVW and told her to lose some weight. *rolls eyes*
SamoaRowe - April 24, 2008 09:26 PM (GMT)
Booker is one of those guys that I always seem to enjoy more than I would expect myself to. He was an above average worker in his prime, but he's been broken down over the last few years. Even with that in mind, I still dig the guy. His matches still hold some level of interest, despite usually not being anything special. I think retirement would probably be his best bet at this point, but I still get entertainment from him.
Agreed with Jillie on all points regarding Christian.
dynamite kido - April 24, 2008 09:54 PM (GMT)
Jillie, I just wanted to say this before I get into the discussion since you seem like a good person and someone that wants to contribute here. Don't take the shit I say as a slight to you. Sometimes I come off pretty abrasive. Also, I'm telling you this here because you're new and I don't want to chase you away from here because you think I'm an asshole. Everyone else here pretty much knows me already and nobody takes it personally. Ask Rowe how many wrestling arguments we've had!
| QUOTE |
| I love Christian. I thought it was criminal what the WWE did to him...pushing him as competition to Cena then tossing him aside. In the WWE he was treated as a rookie, an up and comer, a guy who needed more work to make it, even though he had been with the company for years and years. In TNA he is presented like the seasoned performer he is, at the same level as other established wrestlers. I have never been anything but impressed with Christian’s matches since switching to TNA, and the fact that he’s on the backburner now according to DK is not a valid argument. At Lockdown, there were TWO main events. The first one was Team Christian vs Team Tomko, a feud that has been dominating TNA for some months now, and the second was Angle vs Joe. This indicates to me that TNA is putting as much importance on Christian’s feud as they are Angle’s. |
I wouldn't go as far to say it was "criminal". There was never a point where he should have been booked over Cena. The thing that annoyed me was when he was finally going to get his shot, they threw Jericho in the mix for pretty much no reason. TNA certainly showed him in the right light when he first came in. Hell, he even dragged a excellent match out of Monty Brown. Let me ask you this then Jillie. What has been so great about his matches in TNA? He can't work face or heel, so everything is jumbled and basically done for no reason. Plus, he hasn't had ONE rival in the company that has elevated him (See Joe/Angle for an example of this. When they first started feuding Joe was elevated big time...although they fucked it up.) and he was treated like a joke for sometime. Kind of like when he was facing Joe or playing games with AJ being his little buddy. It's been established that comedy acts don't draw and they were dangerously close to throwing Christian into that. Him being on the backburner is a completely valid argument. When he was brought in he was a fucking STAR. Then because of all of the other rejects coming in and getting immediate pushes over him it made him look like a chump. It's bad booking really. The only reason why Christian's match was given the M.E. treatment was because of all of the participants in one match. Also make no mistake about it, Christian was feuding with a guy thats basically a tag wrestler. That doesn't say push to the moon to me.
| QUOTE |
| DK also pointed out that Christian’s strength is his character, not his wrestling. This is mostly true, IMO, in TNA, where there are slew of very good wrestlers; Angle, Joe, Sting, any of the X Division guys, Booker, etc etc. However, when Christian was in WWE, he was one of the better wrestlers by far, up there with, again, Angle, Benoit, Guerrero, Jericho etc. And we all know how well the WWE treated everyone on THAT list (with the exception of Angle). |
First off, I find it disturbing that anyone considers Booker or half of the x-division to be good. Honestly, when Christian was with the WWE I wouldn't consider him to EVER be among the top 10 workers in the company. Also, I dont see where you are complaining about the treatment of wrestlers either. Benoit was the World Champion who beat out HHH/HBK in the Wrestlemania MAIN EVENT. Guerrero was given the ball to run with and ran out of steam. Christ, the guy MADE JBL. Plus Eddie was a multiple time Tag and IC champion. Jericho was the first ever UNDISPUTED champion and holds the record for IC runs. So where is the shitty treatment? Sure I'd like to have seen Benoit be champion for 10 years, but it's not going to happen. They were transitional champions during their reigns and although I love the guys to death they aren't going to draw big money on top as stars. Plus, they were great for making people on their roster look good, which is why they weren't always needed in the Main Event picture. But look how it worked out when JBL/Eddie feuded. It was lucky that it worked out that way, but it still showed you Eddie's strengths.
| QUOTE |
| Jericho should be treated the same way, IMO, but never will be because he’s a) Canadian (that’s a WHOLE other rant for another day) and B) small. That Jericho chose to rejoin the WWE instead of going to TNA was his own mistake, and a big one, at that. |
WTF? Canadian? They really squandered that Bret Hart guy. He would have been much more successful if he was from somewhere else. Why is it a mistake for Jericho to choose the WWE over TNA? Maybe he wanted to wrestle somewhere that people actually care about. Maybe he wanted to wrestle in front of more than 2,000 people. Maybe he wanted to wrestle for a company that's going to give him opportunities to make money well after he's retired? Bottom line is this. In the wrestling business the guys are there to make MONEY. If you think anything else you're either disillusioned or you're a mark.
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| Anyway, I agree with DK once again about Angle’s feud options being slim right now, but I’m looking forward to seeing what they’ll do with him. |
Honestly though what are you looking forward to? I doubt they'd put him in there with anyone that's not on his level of the card to try and build their own stars. The best bet with someone like him is to have him feud with a Bobby Roode type wrestler where you can see what you really have with him. Angle would either expose him as a wrestler or show you that he's a hell of lot better than people think.
| QUOTE |
| I’d like to add that I never NEVER liked Booker in the WWE. He was annoying and his wrestling moveset seemed truncated to me. I must say that since seeing his work in TNA I have grown to appreciate the guy a lot more. |
Booker sucks, he's sucked for a LOOOOOONG time. I dug the character of King Booker but he was a total shell of himself. He honestly should retire at this point. I don't know how anyone would like his TNA work as it's the worst I've seen from him in sometime.
| QUOTE |
| Also, TNA has an incredible women’s division, untouchable by WWE. It’s clear that while the WWE hires women for their looks and considers wrestling talent a bonus, TNA hires women for their talent and considers their looks a bonus. I even like Angelina Love and that other thing she wrestles with, and anyone who knows me from another board will tell you I HATE skanky women wreslters. Well, Love and whateverhernameisthatican’tremembernow are just as skanky as any of the WWE whores, but they can WRESTLE. And do you think WWE would ever hire Kong? ODB? O, but wait! They DID hire ODB. They shoved her into OVW and told her to lose some weight. *rolls eyes* |
UGH. Now this is where the conversation is gonna get ugly because you're female. Women's wrestling in the US period is a fucking joke. It's been that way since the 80's and it's even worse now. The WWE uses their Divas as a selling point. They want them to be appealing in a swimsuit contest as much as they would be in the ring. Is that ok? Sure it is, because they aren't selling it as wrestling. TNA on the other hand features women on their programs as wrestlers and honestly, it's fucking awful. The only woman that could probably work a half decent match is Gail Kim and that's a maybe. Kong is good for her character, but there are chicks in Japan that would fucking murder her in the ring, and I'm talking chicks that are 130 lbs. Also once again, I find it disturbing that you think those two blonds (Love and the other one that neither of us could think of her name) can wrestle worth a shit. They suck ass, period.