Welcome to the latest Roundtable discussion here at iFight365.com where this week we’re asking the question: Is TNA bringing back Shane Douglas and Raven a good idea, and if you had to bring them back, what would you do with them?

Michael Campbell: A good idea? It’s a bloody HORRIBLE IDEA. Here’s why…

Shane Douglas, and Raven are, combined, 88 years of age and nobody gives a toss about watching either of them on television. Why is that you cry? It’s primarily because neither of them is capable of wrestling.

In terms of health, Raven is a complete and utter catastrophe. He’s been through so many scrapes and bumps, and suffered so many health scares, he’s a walking shambles. He looks abysmal, and, never the fittest of guys, no longer appears the marketable star he once was. As good as a player he was in the late nineties, he’s become an inflated, balding shadow of his former self. His last TNA run was forgettable, while his exploits on the independent scene have been poor at best, aside from a well-booked feud with CM Punk in ROH. Even that, yielded patchy results in the ring. On an International stage, Raven was at best, a mid-carder, and the height of his prowess was well over a decade ago when he was a draw for the smaller, ECW.

By contrast, Shane Douglas was never a marketable star. At one time he was incredibly over as “The Franchise”, but this was the peak of his limited scope as a grappler. More of a Jeff Jarrett in his prime, I.e. capable of working good old-school main events, but never a drawing card, injury and age has reduced him to a non-wrestling role in recent resurgences.

Are managers worthwhile? You bet. Is Shane Douglas an efficient player in this role? Not really, especially considering what he probably costs. What about Raven? Possibly, although I’d like to add that he’d have to be completely and utterly retired, without a doubt, and it would probably take years for him to become an asset, economically in this undervalued position.

Backstage, they could be valuable, though I doubt it. Raven’s issues with substance abuse make him a no-go in regards to being an influence, while he’s admitted previously to often being an absolute prick to deal with. It’s a shame, because creatively he has potential. Douglas meanwhile, could contribute, but his awful efforts promoting hardcore reunions, and his almost perpetually out-dated ring-style make him an unattractive prospect both booking, and as an agent.

As far as the second part of the question goes, If I HAD to bring them back, what would I do with them? I’d give my blooming notice, that’s what I’d do.

Well, actually, I’d probably try Raven out on commentary, and make it a three-man team. Don West could return to being a straight man, with Raven playing more of a heel colour man. But I would not hire Shane Douglas, someone who has little significance to a supposedly cutting edge promotion, where clearly half the talent would be better being in charge than the current regime.

Giving the hideous booking, the clutter of WWE rejects, or pensioners, and the consequently mind-numbing broadcast we know as IMPACT, what does TNA offer? The answer is… some of the most exciting, dazzling performers in the business today. Samoa Joe, Alex Shelley, AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, Chris Sabin, Homicide, Amazing Red, Jay Lethal, Awesome Kong, Frankie Kazarian, and until recently, Petey Williams. These guys are fantastic competitors, and I could happily watch them all year round, when booked correctly. Most of us seem to fondly recall one particular period in TNA history- when the X-Division Championship was Main Event worthy, and AJ, Joe, and Daniels were tearing the house down every week. That’s the sort of action we want, and that’s the appeal of TNA- that performers capable of, are allowed to deliver to that standard.

If we were given that on a frequent basis (in logical scenarios, that fans who don’t follow TNA blindly every week, accepting every ridiculous scenario, can understand), and less of the ravaged veterans, we’d be better for it. The Shane’s and Raven’s just aren’t a good fit.

Save your money TNA.

Mark Bright: It’s a bad idea to have them as in-ring performers. I can’t believe that the late 90s nostalgia trip, re-living the Attitude Era when that time has so clearly passed, has moved on from people who actually drew money like Foley, Sting and Nash to guys that had the peak of their career FOURTEEN YEARS AGO in a bingo hall in front of a couple of hundred people. And that’s coming from an ECW fan – but ECW nostalgia or people trying to recreate ECW (see WCWs lame hardcore division when they signed Raven, Sandman, and Bam Bam Bigelow etc) doesn’t work outside of that special atmosphere in the ECW Arena or the Hammerstein Ballroom all those years ago.

It’s just bringing back yet more old guys, so where currently the situation is old guys on top, young guys in the midcard, many more of these signings will turn TNA into old guys on top, old guys in the midcard, and young guys in 6 minute opening PPV matches, who get squashed in 30 seconds on TV. While that’s not necessarily a fault of Douglas or Raven, that’s the mentality TNA’s current writing team has, and that’s how things would turn out.

But even so, when is the last time Douglas or Raven had a great match or cut a great promo? It’s not like they’ve been on the Indies or in Mexico bolstering their reputation and having a career renaissance – and in that case if you want to throw money at a guy who was a star in the Attitude Era, how about watching some AAA and getting Sean Waltman in if he’d go? Douglas and Raven I don’t see any value, even Raven’s great promos in 1995 were very much for the time and drifted into self parody years ago.

As for what I would do with them if I’d signed them, if forced to use them I’d have Douglas as a manager of a young heel they want to start pushing into main events and have him in the role Harley Race had with Vader in that he’s the former top guy guiding the next generation (James Storm would be a good choice here), and Raven I’d either give a spot on the booking committee or I’d have him work as a backstage agent, specialising on promos and teaching the guys to live their characters 24/7. Of course it would help if those characters were not, for example, fat dude who carries a knife and has a crooked penis drawn on his face, but this is TNA we’re discussing.

James Mustoe: Well Vince Russo must have been watching some old ECW tapes. That’s the only reason I can think of for bringing back Douglas and Raven as on screen characters. Sure, both men have fine minds for the business, and I always thought Douglas in particular would make a great colour commentator, but in 2009 I seriously doubt that either man has much to contribute in the ring. Shane Douglas was last seen in TNA as a backstage interviewer, and has reportedly been working as a manager in retail for the last two years, while the Raven we last saw was a bloated shadow of his former self who looked like his years of hard living had finally caught up with him.

That being said, if you have to use these two as on screen characters, I would go the whole hog, and push for a full-on ECW reunion. Have TNA get hold of Sandman, bald Sabu, Terry Funk, even RVD, and really push the boat out. I mean the people who they’re already using in their main story line are all over 40 years old, so having a few more Extreme veterans would certainly add a different slant to the Main Event Mafia angle. The last time an ECW invasion occurred was in WWE in 2006, and TNA wouldn’t let a small thing like not being able to use the brand name stop them! Personally I couldn’t wait for the battle of aging ex-WCW headliners against aging ex-ECW main eventers; that would be awesome TV!

Dan Short: The first question that comes to my mind is, “Why bring back Raven and Shane Douglas?” At this point, there really shouldn’t be any need for either of them to be back in TNA. I can understand the idea of them possibly helping get some of the younger guys over, but it would have to come down to which they would be able to get over and how it is executed. And we all know that TNA has a serious problem with execution.

As of writing, here’s what I know. Raven is brought in to help Stevie Richards in feuding with Abyss. My guess is that TNA is building this program as a way of bringing back the monster that Abyss was before his face turn and the results of his feud with Matt Morgan. Shane Douglas returns to feud with Christopher Daniels out of frustration that the latter got a second chance and he didn’t. The feud does have potential. But then this is going on while Daniels is still in the middle of the program where he is trying to disprove that he is Suicide.

After only a couple weeks, I still don’t have a better idea of whether or not it was a good idea to bring them back. I think the reason for it is fine; I’m just concerned about the execution, because the whole idea is to bring the young wrestlers up for main event position. Yet TNA felt to do that is to bring in some really old faces. The seemingly opposite of what is going on over on SmackDown and, to a very small extent, ECW.

Because the roster is already filled up with talent, both young and old, I really don’t see for there to be a reason for them to be back at all.