Simon Diamond on Between the Ropes Recap

by Richard Trionfo

This week on Between the Ropes, Simon Diamond joined Fritz, Dickerman, and Vito DeNucci to talk TNA and their debut on SpikeTV, the future of TNA, and other issues in the world of wrestling. It is also the annual appearance for Simon to discuss Notre Dame Football.

The new booking committee is doing a great job. They need to put the talent in a position to succeed and they are doing an excellent job. If you look at the last two pay per views, they have their finger on the pulse of what the TNA fans want. That is unlike ‘the other guys’. That is something that TNA needs to exploit since they are a different product. They are bringing along some people slowly into the mix and when the Spike deal starts; there will be a lot of momentum to get people talking. The people who will benefit the most are the wrestling fans.

Talking and characters are necessary, but you need to have action with the talking. You have ‘the other guys’ who have a show with 1 hour 15 minutes of talk and 45 minutes of wrestling. TNA has stuff that ‘the other guys’ don’t have that can capture the disgruntled fans. That will get new viewers to TNA. It was phenomenal that TNA ads got on Raw this week because it probably piqued the interest of some people. It shows that Spike seems to be committed and that will help in the long run. Spike is going after the same demographic that TNA is going after, so it will help TNA.

Simon was asked what it will take to bring in the fans that are looking for something different. He thinks it needs to be done through word of mouth. That is what ECW did during its infant stages on SportsChannel Philadelphia. The ECW fan told someone who was frustrated with what else there was at the time, and then they were told to watch ECW.

The thing that will help get TNA to the next level is the X Division, the heavyweights, new talent, and people who have been seen on national television. The X Division is phenomenal for TNA and has provided a different style of wrestling for people to watch. TNA also has tag team wrestling. Creative is booking for the old school to meet the new school and carve a new niche. That will bring in a detractor who might not like the ‘cruisers’. However, the X Division has Samoa Joe, who is not a cruiserweight. TNA has a plethora of styles and provides a number of options for the fans.

It is different to be part of a group with the ‘Diamonds in the Rough’ where he is seen as a player/coach and is a mentor right now in TNA. He is having fun, especially when he is given a chance to talk. He thinks that David Young and Elix Skipper are underrated. He thinks that Elix is one of the top athletes in the company, along with A.J. Styles.

He was away from TNA for a period of time due to a character change. However, Dusty came in and Simon was left out in the cold. During that time, he went to Japan and was beaten up by Zero-1 wrestlers. He mentioned that he was portrayed as a monster over there. He would go to internet cafes with Sonjay Dutt so he could keep track with the rest of the world for the three weeks he was there. He is not the best traveler, so it was 20 days longer than he wanted. He is scheduled to go to India for two weeks to help promote TNA with Sonjay Dutt. Simon was shocked that there are a lot of wrestling fans in India. He thought they meant Indiana.

Talk moved on to Simon’s other passion, Notre Dame Football. He thinks it is comical for people to berate Notre Dame for firing Tyrone Willingham. He was not getting the job done at Notre Dame. He was a great person, but the recruiting was not good enough and there were too many blowout losses. He did not seem to be as passionate about the recruiting. Charlie Weis gets Notre Dame and what it is about. He gets the tradition. He invited prominent alumna and had ‘Rudy’ speak to the players. Recruiting has not been this good since the days of Lou Holtz. He does not know if Notre Dame has the fire power, but Charlie Weis is a great tactical coach. The problem is Notre Dame’s depth. Notre Dame will win at Pittsburgh, lose at Michigan. They will beat USC or Tennessee. Notre Dame will go 8-3 this year. People will fly to Gainesville to thank Urban Meyer for not taking the Notre Dame job, and he will be the first one to do it. He thinks Urban will do a good job at Florida, but he will probably go to the NFL, while Charlie Weis is the type of coach who will stay at Notre Dame.

Simon was asked about Dawn Marie and her release from the WWE. He was surprised that she was released. A woman who is pregnant with a few months left on her contract should not be let go from the company. Her loyalty to the company should be considered. He understands that they are an entertainment business, and being pregnant affects being viewed by some as a Diva. There are times when some of the releases could be avoided if attention is paid toward finding spots for the people to avoid turnover. TNA is creating new stars and that will be a positive. It is not about hanging with the WWE, it is about carving a niche so TNA can thrive and stay on Spike TV and have monthly pay per views. Wrestling is a harsh industry. If someone came up to him and said that they wanted to be a wrestler, he would call them an idiot. You lose friends, you lose track of friends, you lose track of family because wrestling encompasses your entire life. When you give so much to an industry that could care less about how much you give to that industry, it is sad. TNA has quality people in positions where you can have a voice. That is a reason for the upturn in the product. There are probably a lot of disgruntled people at ‘the other place’. It is sad to see good people in the industry be the ones who get chided by the industry. Look at Charlie Haas and Jackie Gayda, who got released as they were returning from their honeymoon. He hopes that will change in the future. TNA is putting people in the office and management in positions that have knowledge of the business and they have more compassion towards the wrestlers.

Between the Ropes airs every Wednesday from 10:00 p.m. until Midnight on 740 The Team in Orlando, Florida with hosts Brian Fritz, Dickerman, and Vito DeNucci. Check out www.betweentheropes.com to listen to the live stream of the show every week. Archives of past interviews with Paul Heyman, Mike Tenay, Terry Funk, A.J. Styles, Rob Van Dam, Tully Blanchard, Mick Foley, Ric Flair, Bret Hart, Matt Hardy, Jerry Lawler, Bobby Heenan, Steve Corino, Shane Douglas, Elix Skipper, Harley Race, Bubba Ray Dudley, and many more people in the world of professional wrestling can also be found on www.betweentheropes.com.