Posted by Trent Van Drisse
on 10/22/2009, 11:58 am
From the Torch...Things maybe not too rosey in TNA nowadays.
Kevin Nash blowing up at Terry Taylor at last night's TV taping was the third incident this week of a veteran TNA wrestler blowing up at management.
Samoa Joe lost his cool and chewed out TNA management for what he felt was a blow-off of a commitment to utilize a friend's business for catering at the PPV over the weekend.
A.J. Styles let loose on head booker Vince Russo for what he argued was dismal booking of him early in his run as champion, including making him look weak as champion. Styles won the title because Sting handed him the win at last month's PPV and then essentially lost to Kurt Angle (it was technically a draw, but he was made to appear to be tapping out at the bell) last week on Impact. He also apparently wasn't happy with other aspects of how he was booked this week nor his next PPV title defense or the lack of heels being built up for him.
Keller's Analysis: Styles has a point. The title win made him look weak and the follow-up TV show barely mentioned his title win until deep into the program. The Angle match on Impact made him look a notch below Angle. His win against Sting on Sunday made up for some of that, but the match wasn't given much time and the finish came out of nowhere and the focus afterward was entirely on Sting. Now he's in a relatively weak PPV main event against Samoa Joe and yet another babyface opponent to split cheers with in Daniels. Looking ahead, he doesn't have a line-up of strong heels to face since Angle, Matt Morgan, and Hernandez have all turned babyface and Booker T is departing. Nigel McGuiness debuted this week, but he's feuding with Angle. I haven't heard full details of what Styles was upset about or what was the final straw to setting him off, but there's a real sense that without Jeff Jarrett, Dutch Mantel, or Jim Cornette around, there is no singular person in management wrestlers can look to as a "wrestling person." Vince Russo and Ed Ferrara (despite some indy wrestling background) wear as a badge of honor that they're not "wrestling people." Terry Taylor is seen as John Laurenaitis is - someone who even as a wrestler was just biding their time until they could become a lieutenant in a management position. Dixie Carter at the very top also isn't a "wrestling person." The vacuum in leadership is leading to a meltdown, as evidenced by the actions of Styles, Joe, and Nash this week.
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