A reader emailed me today to tell me that the TNA Original/Main Event Mafia feud is Vince Russo’s second attempt at the story line as he was responsible for the New Blood/Millionaire’s Club in 2000 with WCW. The reader then asked me if I remembered all of the hype that went into it and how soon it was before WCW closed its doors afterwards. Here is my response to that and feel free to send in any other questions, comments or criticisms to starman@inlinefusion.com.
Q: Do you remember all of the hype that went into the New Blood/Millionaire’s Club feud and how soon it was before WCW closed its doors afterward?
A: I will admit that I am familiar with the New Blood/Millionaires Club feud, but I didn’t watch one second of it. WCW missed out on my viewership of this angle by a few months as I solely began watching the WWF as soon as Benoit/Guerrero/Malenko/Saturn jumped ship. I have read much about it, though, and see the similarities between that and what TNA is trying to do now, but I feel that it is a bit different this time.
From what I have read, the feud that WCW had in 2000 consisted of a large amount of talent on both sides. If TNA controls the amount of wrestlers that are involved and uses this as an opportunity to create stars out of their “homegrown” talent, then it can be successful. If TNA tries to create stars out of every single young wrestler in the locker room and adds on a bunch of past-their-prime wrestlers for the MEM, then yes, this angle has the ability to spiral out of control.
If TNA keeps the numbers down and quits making the TNA Originals look foolish and weak, this angle could be one of the best things that TNA has ever done. I have been vocal about how the younger stars have been made out to look over the past two weeks, but aside from that, TNA is doing a good job of allowing other storylines to happen outside of the MEM/Originals feud. Watching the same core storyline with each side trying to one up each other can and will get stale quick.
I could be wrong, but from the looks of it, WCW didn’t allow for much breathing room outside of the New Blood/Millionaires Club feud. Take a look at the Spring Stampede 2000 pay-per-view results where it was basically NB/MC matches to crown new champions after all of the titles were vacated. The New Blood won all but one title that night, however, look at the names of the people who won the titles: Shane Douglas & Buff Bagwell won tag team gold, Scott Steiner won the U.S. Championship and Jeff Jarrett won the World Championship. None of those names sound too “new” to me, even in the year 2000.
Then there is the fact of Vince Russo being tied to both of these angles. From what I have read, Russo isn’t in control of everything but is usually the one to get blamed for the ineptitude that the creative team has shown at times. Whether or not this was Russo’s idea to bring to TNA is irrelevant, but take a look at the TNA Originals and take a look at the New Blood in WCW. One look and it is easy to tell which one is to elevate talent and which one is to gain viewers. Now, I don’t stand behind Russo and believe that every idea he has is pure genius, but I am willing to give this angle some time to grow before I proclaim this as the second coming of the New Blood/Millionaires Club feud.
