Sunset Flip Presents Jan. 4th Impact Strategy
By Jim Boy Star
Hello everyone. I mentioned this on the show this past Sunday (sunsetflipwrestling.podomatic.com) but I wanted to use this column to elaborate more in regards to booking Jan. 4th Impact 3 hour special.
TNA has a great opportunity, but what is considered a victory for TNA? I do not think anyone reading this or even has a bit of sense in them thinks TNA will win the ratings war on January 4th, however what could be labeled a success and what could be labeled as a failure? In my opinion, if they can pull in their usual number, which is about a 1.0, that is a victory for TNA on a small scale. It shows when going against WWE they have a strong fanbase that will follow them and not choose the other company when put head to head with them. A failure would to me, would be anything less than a .8
Anyone that listens to the show, knows I feel very strongly about booking in WWE, TNA, and ROH. I can easily book WWE and ROH. I cannot even fantasy book TNA unless they released about 10 wrestlers from their roster. There are too many wrestlers to put on during a 2 hour show (including commercials). This problem is no longer a problem, or at least for one week.
My first strategy is to do almost anything different than WWE has to offer. This, in general terms, means I want cursing, I want a story built throughout the night to the main event, blood in a match, feature the X-Divison, and women showing some T&A (no pun intended).
Those are some general themes I would have throughout the night. Now let me take a look at more specific things I would book for that night.
We all know Hogan is going to be a big part of the show and despite what people say, I do think he will be a ratings grabber because of his name. Therefore I would either book him for the show’s beginning or at the 9pm or 10pm hour. Now you may ask what should be on the other hours.
First thing announced for the night, Ultimate X Match. Maybe even a six way Ultimate X Match. I love the Ultimate X match and I have never heard many say anything bad. I think the reason most people like the Ultimate X match is not everyone can do an Ultimate X match, it takes a special kind of wrestler. Anyone can climb a ladder, but not everyone that gather enough upper body strength to do the Ultimate X match.
As for the other top of the hour. Promote the Knockout Division. TNA can promote their Knockouts as the most beautiful and toughest women in all of pro wrestling and they will demonstrate it on January 4th. While I do think there could be a debate on which women are better looking, NO ONE can dispute they are better wrestlers than the usual WWE Diva botchamania matches.
So I would book Tara vs Awesome Kong. This match will show how much better the Knockout division is than the Divas without even saying a word. Hell, within the first 30 seconds anyone that is new to TNA would be able to see how much better they are in the ring compared to a regular Divas match. In 30 seconds in WWE, there is at least one botch in a Divas match.
On the other side of the coin, I would have Traci Brooks, Christy Hemme, Velvet Sky, and Lacey Von Erich in a tag team evening gown match. In my opinion, none of those four are great wrestlers but they look good and in continuing with things WWE would not do, this is one of them.
As far as the rest of the show, business as usual. I just wanted to share with everyone the main thoughts TNA should have going into this show. Rumors are Rob Van Dam may debut with the company, and even if he does not I assume TNA will bring in someone to create a buzz. A hardcore rematch featuring Abyss and Mick Foley may not be a bad idea either to promote that TNA has blood. Either way, January 4th should be very interesting.
This week on the show, we talk about Impact vs Raw and UFC vs Raw, ROH in NYC, and much more. Download the latest show at sunsetflipwrestling.podomatic.com Thanks for reading and have a great week.
Jim Boy Star
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