Ask FK... 06

Would it not be best for TNA to finally go back to being the Anti-WWE? Bring back the old ring, push the X division and have amazing matches that focus on speed and agility.

Yes and no. I don't think they need to be "anti-WWE" so much as just being a proper alternative to that product -- offering things the other guys don't. I tend to think the wrestling is okay right now; could be better, but could be worse. What's more important IMO is the way they present things production-wise and how they tell stories. WWE does all this stuff in a certain kind of way. Their shows are filmed and written in a very specific manner. TNA need to make an effort to do these things differently, and for the most part they do with varying degrees of success. The trick is to be an alternative without trying so hard to be different that they alienate their own audience, which I think is a trap they've fallen into a few times.


Shouldn't TNA go back to pushing the best Wrestlers and mic talents. WWE focuses on size and good looks. What I loved most about TNA is that the best individual wrestlers could work their way into the World Championship (i.e. Aries, Bully & Styles).

They should push the people that put together the best package. Mic skills, ring skills, charisma, looks, marketability, etc. -- all these things matter. Some talents have one or a couple of these qualities. Some talents have all of them, and that's who they should be focusing on. It's not about having any one thing. A guy can be a great wrestler, but if he can't cut a good promo he probably won't get very far. Someone else might have good promo skills, but can't wrestle, so he's also going to have a low ceiling. You can be the best in any single aspect and still be missing something. The guys who are well-rounded are the talents to roll with; Roode, Storm, Aries, Magnus, people like that.


Is there a way to focus on more talent and fresh matches while still building story lines? We go months at a time without seeing supposed mainstays.

I think they're doing that now. Since Hogan/Bischoff/Prichard left, they've been utilizing more of the roster. They're still limited by a lack of time, but they're trying at least. Yeah, there are still talents sitting out, but it's about finding a good role for these people.


Do we have to see the same matches each week? There has to be a better way to build feuds & story lines while also introducing new talent. Although WWE has more time, I feel they have mastered the art of keeping things fresh and their talent (even mid and low carders) in the mix constantly.

Well, keep in mind, TNA have made a lot of roster cuts and the talent pool is the smallest it's been in a while. You see repeat matches because they don't have as many people to work with (and still this problem isn't anywhere near as bad as it is in WWE). They seem to be addressing this by introducing new characters, but these things take time.

As for WWE keeping things fresh, I will respectfully disagree with you on that one. They're able to feature more people because they have hours and hours of programming to fill each week. But while these wrestlers are seen more, very few of them mean anything. Something like 90% of the WWE's midcard/undercard is comprised of people having thrown together matches and feuds with no real thought put into them that ultimately go nowhere. They have like 10 different tag teams and yet only 2 or 3 are actually relevant, with the others just there for filler. They have a ton of Divas, but the only ones really doing anything at all are AJ, the Bellas and to a lesser extant Natalya. Let's not gloss over all that stuff.


Read about the potential baby kidnapping storyling involving Lei'd Tapa, Gail Kim, and Madison Rayne?

That would be terrible. At that point it ceases to be about pro wrestling and becomes a crime that you should call the police about. It was bad enough when the Aces & 8s kidnapped Joseph Park for weeks and nobody ever thought to call the authorities or even bothered looking for him (and how hard could that have been when the clubhouse was on the same freaking lot as the iMPACT Zone?), but kidnapping a baby? That's not being a good heel, that's being so over-the-top evil that fans wouldn't be able to suspend their disbelief anymore. You can do that kind of thing on a show like Breaking Bad and make it work, but with pro wrestling you have to at least try to maintain some semblance of realism.


How come Portia Perez is not yet a superstar in TNA?

It would seem TNA aren't interested in her. Too bad. I'm a big fan of Portia's work.


If you could create a group of debuting wrestlers into TNA who would be in it, what would there name be and what would there goal be?

Shanna, Nikki Storm, Kay Lee Ray, Candice LeRae.

I'd call them I.E.D. -- International Elite Decimation

4 women from different countries (Portugal, Scotland, Canada) coming in to wreck shop on the Knockout roster, who are sick of the never-changing status quo in the women's division and are there to show all the long-time stalwarts that their time is up, and cause some serious change by any means necessary.


with eric bischoff gone from the company do you think garrett will be gone soon

I don't think TNA want to burn their bridge with Eric since he did help them a lot with their production and he supposedly had a good relationship with the network, so my guess is they'll let Garett stick around until his contract expires (not saying they'll use him on TV, just keep him on the payroll) and then just quietly let him go.


Gunner heel turn?

What's interesting about this storyline is that it looks like Gunner or Storm might turn heel, but you're not sure which one. From the way they've built it up, either of them could turn and it would make sense. The fun part is trying to guess who it will be.


What do you think about Magnus new world champ?

I'm really happy about it. Magnus is a young, marketable, crossover star with a lot to offer, a new face in the main event scene, not to mention the first ever British world champion of a major US wrestling promotion -- there's a lot TNA can do with that. I'm actually a lot more excited about this than I was about AJ winning the title a few months ago because this feels like something interesting and fresh, whereas AJ's title win, despite all the build up it got, really wasn't anything we hadn't seen before.