A lot of people say that TNA is just 'WWE lite' and there is no real reason to prefer TNA to WWE. I personally feel that while it is weaker than WWE in areas and far too similar to WWE in others, there remain certain areas in which TNA is by far the superior 'sports entertainment' product.
One of these areas is emotion, and we saw a good example of that this Thursday on Impact. The two top matches on this Sunday's Genesis card, the rematch between Kurt Angle and Jeff Jarrett and the 6 man tag between Foley, AJ and Dvon and Steiner, Booker and Nash were both hyped to brilliant effect using a simple tool: emotion. WWE's product seems devoid of any emotion nowadays, yet everybody knows the best feuds are driven by emotional promos, demonstrating the personal nature of the feud where appropriate. In this way, the promos by Jarrett and Foley about the actions of the MEM, particularly Kurt Angle, went a long way to persuading me to watch the PPV.
Some might say the Jarrett/BG James segment was oversentimental, and I could see where they are coming from, but I think Foley showed that he still has it, at least as far as mic work is concerned, and Jarrett has been highly believable in the role as victim to Kurt Angle's sick and twisted mind. It could also be considered over the top that Angle is acting like this, but I have no real issue with over the top heels as long as it creates genuine emotion in feuds. Jarrett vs Angle should be a feud I don't care about but the emotion of the promos, and the personal nature of the feud, has caused me to care. Even Rhino, a guy I constantly label stale, cut a great promo a few weeks back to fire up the Main Event Mafia. They have a real good vs evil thing going on, and it really encourages you to get behind the faces. A little emotion in a feud goes a long way.
WWE are not capable of this. Apparently TNA are.
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