The problem with Aces and Eights is the question of leadership. This isnt the 90's where a big WWE star is going to be on Raw one week and show up on Impact the next week as the leader of the faction. They arent going to sign someone like Batista who would be perfect either. It will probably be an existing guy on the active roster or someone like Jarrett and then it just wont work.
At least they dropped the Claire storyline and the match quality has still been good, especially on PPV's. I think Lagana is definantly the right guy at the booking position as he and Hogan have at least tried some new things. Some are good, like the acension of Aries and Roode, and some have been meh, like Aces and Eights, and some absolutely horrible, like The Claire Lynch storyline.
The fact is they have a direction which is mostly positive, they have some good talent in the ring, but it is time for them to really open up the checkbook. They need to be on the road for tapings, at the very least they need to remove all PPV's from the Impact Zone. They need to be calling the agents of the John Cena's, Orton's, Sheamus, etc and let them know when there contract is up, dont resign with WWE immediately, at least listen to our offer.
You may not like the guys I mentioned but signing TOP WWE guys will pique interest. I hated Diesel in WWE, but when I saw him on Nitro I sure as hell didnt change the channel, a jump like his and Scott Hall's was enough to make me check out the product and see where it was all going.
The Carter family needs to learn what Ted Turner learned. Ted Turner spent all that money to book bigger arenas, sign known talent, and increase production values. People said he was nuts. When things took off they made more money in one year than they had lost in all the years of the company combined. We all know what happened next due to over inflated ego's, bad booking, and guys who wouldnt pass the torch, but, the initial strategy was the right one and one that should be emulated. The Carters have a shit ton of money, they have the capability to be a real competitor. Signing the Chavo Guerrero's and Mike Knox's of the world isnt going to do it. They need to sign a guy who can sell merchandise and sell tickets. As much as I despise the guy they need to be planting the seeds of a Hogan-WCW money deal in the mind of John Cena's agent at every waking moment.
In the meantime I am enjoying the slow climb, it isnt WWE in terms of production values and big atmosphere but Impact has turned into a solid Wrestling product. Austin Aries is the true champion of American Pro Wrestling, Bully Ray and Bobby Roode are damn good at the moment, and they have always dependable guys like Styles, Daniels and Angle who can really put on good matches.
They have a lot more pieces to the puzzle than most give them credit for, they just need to be willing to go all in to make get the last few pieces and fit them together.
RIP
