PWInsiderXTRA - WWE News, Wrestling News, WWE

WWE VS. TNA: WHICH IS THE OVERALL BETTER PRODUCT TO SIDE WITH?

Men, ever have the choice between two women at the same time, and the only way to decide which one to date was to compare them? So, did you grab a pen and paper and make a checklist of which one had the edge on the other in several categories? If not, try it, it works.

For those of you that have it'll be easy for you to play along. The rest of you will get the idea as we go. I want to break down both RAW and iMPACT to once and for all decide which company has the better show RIGHT NOW. Not three years ago or six months ago but right freakin' now. We'll start at the top...

GM vs. GM

RAW: John Laurinaitis
iMPACT: Hulk Hogan

WHO HAS THE EDGE AND WHY? : Easy. Hulk Hogan. Now I am not taking his out of wrestling activities (i.e. porno) into consideration here. Nor am I taking Johnny Ace's position within the WWE into consideration. This is STRICTLY on camera. Why Hulk Hogan? First, his charisma is LIGHT YEARS ahead of Laurinaitis, to the point where it's almost not even fair. You won't hear Hogan slip up or botch the script like Laurinaitis. I will say this about Johnny; he's gotten better but is still not in Hogan's league. Needless to say, you'd be hard pressed to put a real argument that Hogan doesn't beat out Laurinaitis.
EDGE: TNA

WORLD CHAMPION

RAW: CM Punk
iMPACT: Bobby Roode

WHO HAS THE EDGE AND WHY? : This has to go to CM Punk, simply on the stance that he's the most over guy in a larger company. However, Roode is no bum without a workrate. Roode is VERY good at what he does and is a DESERVING champion, no doubt. He just doesn't have that star power yet and that's sad because he's a star. CM Punk also has more Twitter followers, so he wins. EDGE: WWE

OTHER CHAMPIONS

RAW: Santino (United States champion), Christian (Intercontinental champion)
iMPACT: Devon (Television champion), Austin Aries (X Division champion)

WHO HAS THE EDGE AND WHY? : OK, this one is a little tougher than the previous two. I'll take the two older guys and compare them to one another and then do the same with the younger guys. First, Devon and Christian are both vets in the business, both multiple time tag champs. Christian has had the better singles career in both companies. Devon is from the better tag team. Focusing on right now, Christian is fresh off an injury that kept him out for a long while. He won the IC title from Rhodes basically his first night back. Devon is jacked. No edge. Now, the younger guys, Santino and Austin Aries. Really? This is easy... Austin Aries is in the top ten, maybe even five (on some people's lists) best wrestlers on the planet. Santino? Is not. He's comedy and that may not be his fault, but seriously, not even close. Austin Aries is so good; he helps TNA win this one.
EDGE: TNA

TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS

RAW: Kofi & R-Truth (had to stop and think about it for a moment, almost forgot)
iMPACT: Christopher Daniels and Kazarian

WHO HAS THE EDGE AND WHY? : This one isn't very close either. It's real simple. R-Truth and Kofi have been a tag team for about ten minutes and they're champions in a company that does NOT care about tag teams. While down in Orlando, not only are Daniels and Kazarian an established tag team, they are currently outing the female owner for having an affair with the guy who has been in TNA from day one, AJ Styles. While on RAW, R-Truth and Kofi are busy no selling injuries with taped up body parts.
EDGE: TNA

WOMEN'S CHAMPIONS

RAW: Layla
iMPACT: Gail Kim

WHO HAS THE EDGE AND WHY? : Nothing more to be typed here then, in TNA the women are leaps and bounds, head and shoulders, above the WWE.
EDGE: TNA

ANNOUNCERS

RAW: Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler
iMPACT: Mike Tenay and Taz

WHO HAS THE EDGE AND WHY? : Well let's see, Cole is a heel and is the main talker on the show which is awkward. He's considered so highly that he was soaked on RAW in BBQ sauce. I've NEVER been a fan of Lawler, neither is your young daughter. I've also always been lukewarm on Tenay. However, Taz is the man, on the mic and he was the man in the ring.
EDGE: Tie

(Side note: Work or shoot, it doesn't matter, Gut Check is the coolest "young guy" gimmick, ever. It blows away NXT & that one season of the "new" Tough Enough. To put simply, great TV. Same can be said for Open Fight Night. I love both these gimmicks.)

DOES IT MATTER?

RAW: Latest main-event was John Cena vs. Tensai, then John Cena vs. Michael Cole which ended in Cole being soaked in BBQ sauce.
iMPACT: Sting/AJ Styles/Kurt Angle vs. Bobby Roode/Daniels/Kazarian to hype PPV where the challenger for the title makes the champion tap.

WHAT THE HELL AM I TALKING ABOUT? : This has been a hot topic lately on Twitter, why is CM Punk NEVER in the main-event as champion? Simple answer: WWE doesn't give a sh*t about its champions. How about TNA? Two out of the three shows, Bobby Roode (World champion) has been in the main-event. What a concept? A wrestling show based on WRESTLING and their champion. Incredible. Also take into consideration the way the WWE treats the tag teams and this one is also VERY easy.
EDGE: TNA

BIGGEST ANGLES GOING RIGHT NOW

WWE: Tyrant GM, Big Show/John Cena, CM Punk/Daniel Bryan/Kane/Love interest AJ
iMPACT: Hogan/Roode/Sting, AJ Styles/Dixie Carter/Daniels & Kazarian, Joseph Park/Abyss/Bully Ray

WHO HAS THE EDGE AND WHY? : The big angles are what drive TV ratings and PPV buyrates. With TNA headed into a PPV this Sunday and the WWE next Sunday, now is the perfect time to look at which big angles are better. I was really behind the CM Punk and Daniel Bryan feud, got into more when they added AJ, but since they added Kane, yawn. This match would've had me buying the PPV on June, 17th, not anymore. The WWE standard nowadays, a heel "GM" wreaks havoc on the faces, been the recipe since 1997. Is it old YET? Not in the eyes of the creative team. Last but certainly least, the Big Show and John Cena feud. Does it get much more boring than this? I'll answer, no it doesn't. What a snooze fest this one has been. The highlight of it is a pre-taped/packaged promo from the Big Show. That's it. As for iMPACT, the Joseph Park/Abyss/Bully Ray feud has been interesting and the payoff should come on Sunday. If not, I wonder where else they can take it. I know @ScottSteiner blew the whole thing wide open on Twitter and that's sad because it isn't THAT bad. They threw us a curveball on Thursday when they had Abyss on the jumbo screen and Joseph in the ring. This has been more interesting than Cena/Big Show, for sure. Hogan/Roode/Sting has also been a good one. It's different in this day in age to have a face "GM" trying to get the belt off of a heel. Hogan is making it known that he is trying to get the belt off Roode. Now, on Sunday, he's throwing Sting at Roode. So, if Roode wins again, how strong does he look? Last night, Roode tapped out to Sting's scorpion deathlock; setting the stage for can it happen again on Sunday. The single hottest angle on either show right now, is the Dixie Carter and AJ Style affair angle. Hands down. It is VERY compelling watching this thing breakdown between all these characters. Best part is we don't see Serge as a character. He's just Dixie Carter's husband and now she's CLEARLY sleeping with "one of the boys". How will this end? I'll watch to find out.
EDGE: TNA

SO WHO AM I BRINGING HOME TO MOM?

TNA: 6-1-1
WWE: 1-6-1

WINNER: TNA

Let the debate begin! I dare anyone and everyone to CHALLENGE me! Of course, there is no RIGHT or WRONG answers here; this is ALL based on opinions. I know there's going to be people who will say, "WWE is watched by more people, therefore it wins" but the TV ratings do not mean that one show is BETTER than the other. Now, if you think RAW is better than iMPACT and you can provide EXAMPLES to back that up, great. If not, shut up. The bottom line here is, TNA is putting on a much more compelling and better wrestling show than RAW, but that's just my opinion.

Send Feedback:
@FordPWInsider OR TheFordShow@Gmail.com