Why I Hate Gut Check

[Big Red Machine]

The big thing that a lot of fans get excited for about TNA’s Open Fight Night is Gut Check. Personally? I hate it… which is a damn shame because the concept itself is pretty good. Gut Check is the sort of thing that irks me because it makes perfect sense, and yet is done in such a way that it goes against my wrestling sensibilities. From an entirely kayfabe point of view (which is what everything that goes on in wrestling should be examined from, at the most basic level), Gut Check is a great idea. It is a tryout match (companies always need new talent, after all), and it is done in such away that fans from around the world can see it, rather than just those in the arena that night, allowing for feedback from a much larger sampling of your fanbase. Once you get past the basis for it, though, the way that TNA does it is just horrible.

My biggest problem with Gut Check has been the judges and their segments. The snippets of their conversations backstage often come extremely close to (if not outright) breaking kayfabe, This creates the logical problem of the Russo-style worked shoot:
"Why are you going out of your way to tell/show me that this is 'real?' Isn’t everything kayfabe 'real?' And if this is so 'real,' that makes everything else on the show fake, and if it’s fake, why should I watch it?" Everything on the show must be treated as it is real, so you can’t have one segment that you make “more real” by throwing in insider terms the way that Gut Check does.

Having this segment be more “real” also creates problems of internal consistency with the rest of the show. The judges talked about how Joey Ryan’s gimmick wasn’t “real” enough. So Joey Ryan’s gimmick isn’t “real” enough for you, but Eric Young’s is perfectly fine?

Third of all, the things the judges say often make very little sense. Prichard said that he was voting against giving Joey Ryan a contract because Joey had been in the business for twelve years already and hadn’t made it big yet. Putting aside the appalling logic of the reason itself… assuming that these judges did any sort of background research on the Gut Check candidates (which I think is a fair assumption, and if they haven’t been, they are not doing their jobs competently), they would have already known that about Joey before bringing him in… but if you are going to reject him because of that, why would you even bring him in in the first place?

Similarly, Prichard asked his fellow judges (paraphrasing) ‘who is going to order a PPV just because Taeler Hendrix is on it?’ Nobody. DUH! But how often do we ever order a PPV just for one person? I did it with Border Wars, but that was only fifteen dollars and was something that had been building up for a year. The only time I can think of that you can even argue that people have been willing to shell out $40 for a PPV just for one guy was Punk at Money in the Bank, and not only was that an extremely special set of circumstances, it was also a PPV that had two eight-man ladder matches on it so even if Punk vs. Cena wasn’t amazing, it was still a safe bet that the show would have something good (and that is totally discounting the argument that people bought the PPV for Cena as well, or for the combination of Punk and Cena, rather than just Punk alone). It hasn’t just been Prichard who has said dumb things or things that don’t make sense, but his are the freshest in my mind.

Another major problem is the execution of the segments between the wrestlers and the judges. The wrestlers have been encouraged to talk to the judges rather than to the fans (Flair even said "talk to us, not to the marks"), and they pooped on Joey Ryan for cutting his promo in character. So then why is this being done in front of the fans?

Next we have the problem of the execution of the whole thing. These guys are given pretty much three minute matches on TV. That isn’t enough time to really show what you can do, especially when your opponent needs to believably go over. Losing in three minutes when is something that jobbers do, and jobbers barely get any offense in. How the hell are we the fans supposed to find these guys impressive if they lose in three minutes… despite spending about half of the match on offense? Robbie E. himself regularly loses in three minutes to just about everyone on the roster, and Alex Silva managed to lose to Robbie E. in three minutes? How the hell can you believably say that this guy deserves a contract? If he can’t beat the guy who everyone else beats in three minutes, what is going to happen when he gets into the ring with... well… anyone?

The answer to the above question, or course, is… we don’t know yet. Why? Because in the three months since he won his TNA contract, Alex Silva has not even been seen on TV. If you’re not going to use him, why did you even sign this guy in the first place? Additionally, if the people who win the contracts don’t even appear on TNA, then the contracts really aren’t that exciting to us fans because all it means is that Alex Silva has an easier time paying for his groceries. I’m happy for him, but as a fan watching the product that TNA is putting on, it means that the contract doesn’t matter.

The only thing about Gut Check that has been remotely exciting to me has been the Joey Ryan angle. I have really enjoyed this angle for the last two months, but I just recently had a major change of heart about it. Don’t get me wrong. I love hearing Joey trash TNA… and that is the problem with this angle. Everything Joey is saying is 100% correct, and because of the way Gut Check works, if everything is Joey is saying is correct, then both the judges as individuals and TNA as a company are kayfabe morons.

Compare the crowd responses to Alex Silva and Taeler Hendrix to the crowd response to Joey Ryan. Compare the promo that Joey cut to the promos that Silva and Taeler cut. Joey blows those two out of the water. Compare the matches that all three had. Alex Silva lost in three minutes to a comedy jobber who hadn’t won a match (or even last five minutes) in months. He got a contract. Taeler Hendrix lost in about four minutes to an established, if slightly past her prime star, and she got a developmental contract. That’s fine (although if you compare those two facts side by side you have to wonder why she got the developmental contract and Silva got the big-league contract). Joey Ryan lasted almost five minutes against a rising star and X-Division Champion. So Joey lasts longer against a better opponent… and he gets no contract at all? I realize that that is the point of the angle, that Joey was not evaluated fairly by the judges, but not evaluating Joey fairly in the face of overwhelming odds while giving contracts to two less-deserving wrestlers makes judges, one of whom is the TNA executive in charge of talent relations) look like idiots. It begs the question why they haven’t been replaced yet.

Is Gut Check a good idea? In theory, it is more than good. It’s great! But it is being horribly mishandled in so many ways that it is hurting the company.

[RedSon]

i personally don't like the gut check idea only because a lot of people are getting contracts, so it makes the roster bigger while it doesn't need it. but i don't see a problem with the people being contracted not having tv time yet, i agree that they should, but it doesn't affect that they don't. it's understandable that a new guy doesn't get tv time, if the knockouts don't get tv time, why would he?? having a tna contract doesn't mean he will be featured in tv, but you know get to train with tna, you get featured in their house shows, etc. this is a place where tna break a little kayfabe and becomes a corporation, winning a contract is like getting a job, you start from the bottom and work your way up.

i do agree with you on the judges thing, they need an specific rubric on this

[Big Red Machine]

i personally don't like the gut check idea only because a lot of people are getting contracts, so it makes the roster bigger while it doesn't need it. but i don't see a problem with the people being contracted not having tv time yet, i agree that they should, but it doesn't affect that they don't. it's understandable that a new guy doesn't get tv time, if the knockouts don't get tv time, why would he?? having a tna contract doesn't mean he will be featured in tv, but you know get to train with tna, you get featured in their house shows, etc. this is a place where tna break a little kayfabe and becomes a corporation, winning a contract is like getting a job, you start from the bottom and work your way up.

I don't see that as breaking kayfabe at all. What you have said makes sense in the world o kayfabe, too. From a booking POV, though, it seems silly to me to hihglight this concept, but not doing anything with the winners of it.

[yourcrapsweak]

You mentioned my biggest gripe with Gut Check - the people who "got contracts" have gotten less TV time than the guy who didn't! And also if you watch or at least remotely keep up with OVW, you would know that Hendrix AND Silva have both been in OVW for a while now already BEFORE they got their Gut Checks. So people who are saying that Hendrix is just being sent to OVW to hone her skills before she makes it up to TNA need to realize that THE GUYS TNA ARE TAKING ARE FROM OVW ALREADY! Except for Ryan who was with Ring Ka King. This reminds me of Andy Leavine being in FCW for 2 years, then being on Tough Enough, winning, and then being sent right back to FCW like nothing ever happened (except he had a different gimmick).

[Big Red Machine]

You mentioned my biggest gripe with Gut Check - the people who "got contracts" have gotten less TV time than the guy who didn't! And also if you watch or at least remotely keep up with OVW, you would know that Hendrix AND Silva have both been in OVW for a while now already BEFORE they got their Gut Checks. So people who are saying that Hendrix is just being sent to OVW to hone her skills before she makes it up to TNA need to realize that THE GUYS TNA ARE TAKING ARE FROM OVW ALREADY! Except for Ryan who was with Ring Ka King. This reminds me of Andy Leavine being in FCW for 2 years, then being on Tough Enough, winning, and then being sent right back to FCW like nothing ever happened (except he had a different gimmick).

To further your point Taeler Hendrix, they actually used the term "developmental deal" on TV, which shows that even in the world of kayfabe, nothing has changed for her.

[cero2k]

You mentioned my biggest gripe with Gut Check - the people who "got contracts" have gotten less TV time than the guy who didn't! And also if you watch or at least remotely keep up with OVW, you would know that Hendrix AND Silva have both been in OVW for a while now already BEFORE they got their Gut Checks. So people who are saying that Hendrix is just being sent to OVW to hone her skills before she makes it up to TNA need to realize that THE GUYS TNA ARE TAKING ARE FROM OVW ALREADY! Except for Ryan who was with Ring Ka King. This reminds me of Andy Leavine being in FCW for 2 years, then being on Tough Enough, winning, and then being sent right back to FCW like nothing ever happened (except he had a different gimmick).

To further your point Taeler Hendrix, they actually used the term "developmental deal" on TV, which shows that even in the world of kayfabe, nothing has changed for her.

i think that TNA still considers their fans on the level of the wwe universe and don't really expect many of them to know that they have a developmental territory. Joey Ryan does have a point, they're ignoring their 87% of the fans!