by Chad MosherThis week, the gang over at Family Feud will be holding their first celebrity week under the hosting reign of Steve Harvey. Starting Today, stars from Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) will do battle outside of the ring to earn up to $100,000 for their respective charities. While game shows are my first love, professional wrestling just so happens to be my second so I'd like to offer you a preview of what's to come for this week.
As strange as it may seem, pro wrestling and the Feud are not unfamiliar with each other. Wrestlers have appeared on the show since the early 90s, featuring stars from the WWF (since renamed WWE) and the now-defunct WCW with Ray Combs, all the way to WWE playing on John O'Hurley's version just a couple of years ago. TNA is the second-highest rated wrestling company in North America and though you can usually see them Thursday nights on Spike TV, the male and female stars are taking a week out to play Family Feud. Both Feud and TNA tape their television programs at Universal Studios, so why not create a little cross-promotion for either side?
Five male wrestlers will take on five female stars (known as the Knockouts). Former TNA World Heavyweight Champion Rob Van Dam teams with fellow grapplers Mick Foley, Matt Morgan, Jay Lethal, and Ken Anderson (who actually played four years ago when he was with WWE). Representing the Knockouts are Angelina Love, Velvet Sky and Lacey Von Erich (collectively known as The Beautiful People, who have held six championships amongst themselves) along with Tara and backstage interviewer Christy Hemme. All ten of these individuals do their best to entertain when they're in the ring, but who's going to come out on top when they feud in the ultimate best-of-five series? I'll tell you what I think.
Family Feud is a hard show to judge how well someone will do on. Unlike other shows where you might need to be trivia savvy or have good physical skills, this show requires you to be able to relate to people. The TNA stars have travelled the globe, interacting with fans in many different countries they've wrestled in so I'm not sure thinking like 100 average people will be an issue. But, based on previous experience, I'm going to have to give the edge to the guys on this one. They're more likely to have success this week for a couple of reasons.
The obvious thing to point out is the experience factor of the males. Mr. Anderson has played on the show, so one would have to think he would have a competitive advantage walking in, already being familiar with facing off and the pressure of Fast Money. Though all of these superstars are used to performing under pressure in front of television cameras and lights, playing a game show for the first time is a different story. Another one of the team's secret weapons should be Mick Foley. Mick is an accomplished author, having written four memoirs, two children's books and a novel. His first book actually topped the New York Times bestseller list and started the boom of successful books by wrestlers. He's clearly literate and knows his way around complicated thought processes and those attributes should definitely help him under the force of the Feud.
During most of their TNA run, most of the ladies on the team have been shown as beautiful women... with not such strong minds. The exception on the team is Tara. Since her 2002 pro debut in WWE and throughout her stint since 2009 in TNA, she's used intelligence and mind tricks to gain victories and championships, plus outside of the ring she's got a mind for business. Formerly owning a pizzeria and now a custom car shop, she has to have the intelligence and world skills to manage a business with the public. Tara has to be the strongest link that the Knockouts have.
In the end, all of the money won will go to each team's selected charity, so these tough guys and gals are spending their time for a good cause. I do think the men will make the most at the end of the week, but who do you think will take the cake? Let us know in the comments section below. Family Feud airs at a different time in each city, so check your local listings, but do make sure you take the challenge to step into the game show ring with the TNA stars this week!
Chad Mosher is a past game show contestant, and has experience in many aspects of the game show industry. He contributes a weekly column here at About.com Game Shows, answering your questions and tackling all facets of the game show genre. If you have questions for Chad, you can post them here in the comments, or contact him directly through the link in his bio.
Photo courtesy Debmar-Mercury
Comments
Shows how much I follow wrestling, from the headline I thought it was porn star week.
I thought this was a game show, these days it is getting pretty raunchy…
Steve Harvey… please, please, please stop calling grown men “boy”. I think you would find it very offensive if these same men called you “boy”. Your enthusiasm is great, but you really need to say something other than “I hear ya , Boy!” or similar. Thank you.