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ASK PWTORCH STAFF for 9/8: Should Spike stick with TNA or gamble on GFW? What would it take to get Divas taken more seriously? Did Miz and Cole help Bryan get over? Are there similarities between Ultimate Fighters and Tough Enough?

Sep 8, 2014 - 6:48:37 PM
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NOTE: This version of Ask PWTorch today is an APP EXCLUSIVE and not available at our free www.PWTorch.com website (although it is also available at our VIP website, where members enjoy full access to every article on every one of our platforms). Thanks for your support of our App and keep spreading the word about PWTorch to your friends who are wrestling fans!

Pro Wrestling Torch was established in 1987 by Wade Keller. One of the primary traits PWTorch has been credited with over the years is assembling the best and most diverse staff of columnists with broad knowledge, but also areas of specialty where they have a particularly strong grasp of history. Every day PWTorch.com presents that team of writers answering your questions, some of which are fact-based and others of which are opinion-based. Either way, we've got you covered with Bruce Mitchell, Pat McNeill, Sean Radican, Greg Parks, James Caldwell, and Wade Keller. Collectively they have over 80 years working for the Torch, writing about wrestling and studying industry history and trends.

If you have a question you'd like us to respond to, send your question to askpwtorch@gmail.com. I, along with the Torch staff, will address you questions in this feature and also the “Ask PWTorch: All-Star Panel” edition which is also published most days here at PWTorch.

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PWTorch reader J.M. asks: If you ran Spike TV and were committed to having a wrestling show on your network in 2015, would you rather show TNA or take a chance on Jeff Jarrett's Global Force?

PWTorch assistant editor James Caldwell answers: I would look beyond TNA and Global Force to other options out there. And, there are other options. We're still unclear of what Global's vision is for the product; we just know they want to feature a lot of international talent in whatever form that looks like. But, if Spike wants to continue featuring pro wrestling on their Network, there is an opportunity to look beyond people who have been associated with TNA over the past eight years for a fresh start.

PWTorch columnist Greg Parks answers: It's sort of "the devil you know vs. the devil you don't know." I would almost, at this point, go with Jarrett's GFW. TNA is a brand damaged beyond salvation in my opinion, showing no long-term signs of growth in any real metric. GFW would be a fresh, new product (at least, that's the hope - we still don't know a lot about the company and how it will operate) that at least has the opportunity to surpass the business TNA was doing.

PWTorch editor Wade Keller answers: I would need to see more details on what Jeff Jarrett's GFW actually is. So far, I wouldn't even be surprised to find out he's filming a reality show about how to start a wrestling promotion with no intent to actually start a wrestling show. Everything he has done so far almost feels like a "Spinal Tab" like spoof of starting a wrestling company. TNA is an established brand drawing a typical audience level, within a certain range, and probably won't grow much with their ownership/management in place. So I suppose if Spike is in a gambling mode, or they like what Jarrett might tell them in private, then go for it and see if change leads to a better audience. I can't endorse it, though, since so little is known about GFW and they haven't signed a wrestler or announced a show yet.

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PWTorch reader Umoza asks: When Daniel Bryan debuted on WWE TV as the rookie of The Miz, the two never got along at all. It also didn't help Bryan that Michael Cole kept criticizing him as every chase he got on commentary. However, because both Miz and Cole were the most detested guys in the WWE at the time, did they actually help Bryan get over as a babyface?

PWTorch columnist Greg Parks answers: In some ways, sure it helped him. My criticism wasn't so much that Miz and Cole were heeling on him (though Cole was taking it much further than he was heeling on anyone else at the time), but that their criticisms seemed unfair and hit a little too close to home for a guy already behind the eight-ball for so many reasons in his attempts to get over (bland, no mic skills at the time, etc.).

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PWTorch reader Randy B. of Kunkletown, Pa. asks: As always, awesome job with the whole Torch experience. The "Ask" features have been a favorite of mine going way back to the print-only newsletter, and it's cool to see that concept evolve and hear your thoughts on so many ideas. I was just watching a recent UFC card, and it struck me how many fighters have come up through the The Ultimate Fighter ranks. I've never seen comparisons made between TUF and WWE's performance center, but they seem very similar to me. In TUF, guys learn the UFC style (which is the most marketable MMA style going today, as with WWE and wrestling), they learn how to talk on the mic some, they learn how to work with coaches and trainers (akin to WWE's trainers and agents), they learn the lifestyle of a UFC pro (travel, training, making and keeping yourself marketable, etc.), they get some TV time and exposure before being brought up to UFC's main roster, etc. I'm curious what you all think of this comparison and if I'm on target or if there really isn't as much similarity as I'm figuring.

PWTorch columnist Sean Radican answers: I see some similarities between TUF and NXT, but I think they're different enough to where there's not a huge comparison. You can't teach someone to fight the UFC style. UFC encourages fighters to make the fights exciting, but as we've seen in the past, not all UFC fights are exciting and ultimately the fighters are going to fight their own style.

UFC doesn't pick trainers and coaches for individual fighters, so during tough a fighter might work with a certain coach, but ultimately once they get to UFC they're going to train on their own whereas in WWE, a group of trainers teach wrestlers the WWE style and that sticks with them all the way up to the time they make the main show if they get there.

The main difference I see between TUF and NXT is that TUF has fighters going for one or two contracts, although sometimes an extra contract is awarded, but the vast majority of fighters on TUF outside of those that win the competition don't stick around very long and their tenure with UFC is confined to the filming of the show and maybe a fight or two in the UFC at most.

In WWE, the wrestlers are already under contract and are competing for a spot on the main roster, so in that sense they have a lot more time to learn under the WWE umbrella than TUF fighters have to learn under the UFC umbrella. To go along with that, wrestlers in NXT have a certain level of security being under contract that TUF fighters don't have.

On the flip side, TUF fighters get a lot more exposure to UFC's audience than NXT wrestlers get to the WWE audience. NXT is confined to the WWE network, but TUF is usually aired on TV, so those fighters get a much larger level of national exposure than NXT wrestlers get.

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PWTorch reader Mark from Huntington, British Columbia asks: I have to say I think WWE writes terribly for the women in the company. For the men, too, at times. However, I feel A.J. and Paige have been awesome. It seems like they can bring serious credibility to the division. Do you agree? What obstacles do you see in the way of them bringing prestige to the divas?

PWTorch columnist Greg Parks answers: I think that, in a lot of ways, A.J. Lee and Paige are the cream of the crop of the Divas Division. But even then, there's a ceiling to how much Divas can get over due to WWE's pigeonholing them as an "attraction" and not really treating them all that seriously. The obstacles are more the booking by WWE (both are CRAZY, which his the go-to gimmick for Divas; the unimaginative booking with the constant distraction finishes) rather than A.J. and Paige themselves, especially with the improved work Paige has done since turning heel.

PWTorch editor Wade Keller answers: I'd be curious to see WWE really get behind promoting the Divas Division differently. At least there haven't been pillow fights and Diva Search segments recently, which were sexist and demeaning. It would take a lot to get the Divas Division to be seen as being in the same category as the men. It would probably take a separate booker, perhaps a woman, really diving into the division and getting ample TV time to tell more stories and promote more of the women on the roster. Changing the name from "Divas Division" to "Women's Division" would probably be a good start.

===

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