Post by alessicustoms2 on Jan 21, 2008 0:58:57 GMT -5
TNA 101: Silencing the Critics Part II
By Talon Thorne (Aka Damian Reign)
I am in a much better mood this time than I was last time. I read Jim Cornette’s letter on TNA Wrestling.com and thought it was pretty funny. Thank you for the feedback last column. I will now do my second half of my column. TNA 101 from now on can only be read at TNA’s Fan Forum and if I get “hired” by this site to post columns. No big deal either way. Here is part to of “Silencing the Critics”
They say that TNA lost the opportunity to put the World Championship on the potential new face of TNA, Samoa Joe
As wrestling performers what do, Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Booker T, Raven and Tommy Dreamer have in common? Everyone knows that the money is in the chase. What these stars have in common is that they constantly were held away from the World Title until eventually, after many expected, they finally won it. It took Benoit and Guerrero four years after their arrival in the WWE to finally win World Titles. This isn’t even counting all the time they wrestled before coming to the WWE. When this happens, the storyline changes into capturing their destiny. Many thought Raven would win the TNA Title in 2003, but he didn’t end up winning it until 2005. Many fans consider that time period as the best ever for TNA.
Samoa Joe has been in TNA for less than three years. For many stars it takes much longer. John Cena did it in about 3 and a half while it took Rob Van Dam 5 years. It all depends how the eventual title win is built up. Right now isn’t a good time to give Samoa Joe a World Title since fans aren’t behind his whiny attitude. I would rebuild Samoa Joe up with his bad ass attitude then have him take the title.
The stars of TNA are unhappy there
These accumulate off of reports of low backstage morale for TNA. The Internet hurts TNA once again, go figure. In every company there will be people unhappy with the company or with their roles in the company. From what I understand, TNA does in fact have a few unhappy individuals. However they also have many happy individuals, most are the ones currently rising in the company and are in the main event scene. Unfortunately for the unhappy ones, their windows to leave the company are just about closed. One question I have is if so many people hate being in TNA, why is it that Senshi was the only one at the meeting to take the release? Why is it that he still has ties with TNA even after he is gone? Was he really that unhappy?
TNA wasted one of it’s top talents with Chris Harris, who was there since day one.
Chris Harris in a better position now then he was with TNA. Would you push a guy who had a contract running out. Harris had attitude problems in February of 2007. He didn’t sign a contract extension even when he was pushed in June 2007. His window closed pretty quickly. He complained about his role even though his mic skills were limited. In my opinion TNA got the better half of AMW in James Storm.
TNA is WWE-Lite, not a wrestling alternative like they claim they are
Not since late 2006 has TNA called itself the New Face of Professional Wrestling or the True Wrestling Alternative. What their company introduction says is: TNA Wrestling delivers a distinct brand of high-risk, athletic entertainment. TNA’s roster includes the biggest names in wrestling today, such as Kurt Angle, Booker T, Kevin Nash and Christian Cage, as well as the hottest new stars in the business: AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, Samoa Joe, Black Machismo, the Latin American Xchange and the Motor City Machineguns. TNA features the innovative six-sided ring and the high flying “X Division”, as well as the concept matches such as the high-wire spectacle “Ultimate X”, “King of the Mountain”, “Six Sides of Steel”, “Lethal Lockdown”, and “Elevation X”, considered to be the most dangerous match in professional wrestling. TNA Entertainment is a privately held company headquartered in Nashville.
To me they seem to be telling the truth in this statement. Nowhere does it say they are an alternative. They do have high-risk, athletic entertainment. They do have innovative matches and the hottest up and coming superstars.
As for being WWE-Lite, WCW originally focused on pure in-ring competition. They were a distant second until the introduction of many WWE-jects from WWE and becoming more storyline driven (like WWE was). Until then did they start beating WWE in ratings and eventually become #1 in the business. There is plenty of room in the world of sports entertainment for two storyline style wrestling promotions. It was Vince Russo who in fact moved WWE into storyline “Attitude Era” style wrestling. To me TNA can have the storylines; they just need to match it with wrestling, because “We are wrestling”. They need to uphold that statement.
TNA has stupid matches like the Reverse Battle Royal and Feast or Fired
While I understand hating the Reverse Battle Royal I thought that the Feast or Fired Match was pretty logical. I am not running down the rules. TNA was looking to get some of that Money in the Bank love from the fans. This match pretty much said I don’t want to be in TNA if I can’t be champion. Most of these guys were risking their jobs for a shot at the TNA Title. Yes the match was chaotic, yes the fallout wasn’t done well, yes we should have seen the results on the PPV. Overall however it was a pretty fun match to watch and was pretty unique.
To me, I agree that the Reverse Battle Royal in the Fight for the Right Tournament is stupid. I would eliminate this match all together and keep the Fight for the Right Tournament. Instead of the Reverse Battle Royal have all the participants move straight into the Gauntlet Match (much like the X Division Triple Chance Tournament from 2003). Only the last 7 in the match move on into the tournament. The winner of the gauntlet skips to the finals of the tournament where he faces the other finalist who has to win both a singles match and the 3-Way Collision to get there. If done right, the Fight for the Right Tournament could be like King of the Ring and advance up and coming stars into the main event scene.
There is too much comedy on TNA iMPACT!
I kind of addressed this about the comedic stars. I will say that about 60% of the humor on TNA iMPACT!, I find funny. There is definitely way too much humor on the show. When a serious blood feud is happening, they aren’t supposed to joke around about it. In wrestling there is a time and place for everything. Most heels aren’t supposed to be funny even though they can be. This problem should be fixed.
TNA needs to be saved because its dying
Let me make this clear to everyone reading this. In no way whatsoever is TNA dying or looking like its dying. TNA is growing in every possible way. The rating are growing really slowly and if they weren’t, Spike TV would still be happy with TNA for maintaining their ratings. TNA is going on the road with House Shows (some successful and some not so much). TNA now have partnerships with both UFC and New Japan Pro Wrestling, both of which could help TNA in the end. TNA Today is one of the most watched Internet Shows on Youtube. The Audience is growing. Whether you love or hate TNA, you can’t look away.
More on TNA Ratings Growth
I talked about TNA Ratings growth a little in Part One. I don’t have the facts or figures in front of me at the moment but a reader asked me to speak a little more on this. In 2004, TNA iMPACT! debuted on Fox Sports Net. The show had a sporty theme to it, complete with time limits and judges to determine a winner. I believe iMPACT! on FSN averaged about 0.4 Rating. This wasn’t below average for TNA since they eventually would be dropping their weekly PPVs in favor of the weekly TV show. After over a year in that Ratings Range, FSN and TNA didn’t renew their agreement. (Side Note: TNA paid a pretty penny for their timeslot on FSN to only be bumped by other sports shows).
After a summer of airing TNA iMPACT! on the internet, TNA met their saving grace in Spike TV, likely one of its biggest steps up. TNA had a one hour show on Slammin’ Saturday Nights. The focus of the show was primarily on wrestling and the X Division. From what I remember, TNA got .8 rating average, a big bump over the ratings on Spike TV (50% growth). Over the next year TNA went to Thursday Nights, Primetime and eventually 2-Hours in Primetime on Thursdays. In January 2005, the first appearance of Sting on iMPACT! drew TNA’s highest number with 1.1
Right after TNA went to primetime in November 2006, the theme of the show changed from purely wrestling into wrestling/entertainment. The ratings bounced from 0.9 to 1.2’s over the next year until recently. TNA went two hours on Spike TV and despite having a more show to keep ratings up, TNA did that and then some. Through Christmas Season, Thanksgiving and a one night war with ECW, TNA maintained its 1.1 average hitting 1.2 recently with its highest viewing audience in history. This viewing audience was higher than what WWE drew for the ECW show earlier in the week.
TNA is growing ever so slowly. While the overall audience isn’t growing very fast, TNA has created a very loyal audience who stuck with them through thick and thin. TNA grabs new viewers with time while maintaining their audience. Compare these to Raw, Smackdown, ECW and WSX. Over 2007 and into 2008 the ratings lowered for all three shows (WSX was eventually canceled). WWE has way more stroke in the business and way more money to throw around along with bigger names in the business and 2 times the roster size of TNA, yet they can’t maintain their crowd. TNA may have way less fans, but they have way more loyal fans on a percentage basis.
TNA has horrible buyrates
Compared to WWE, TNA has nothing to hold to their flame. According to reports received by the Report (I don’t know how legitimate it is, likely not very):
Genesis 06- 60,000 Buys
Turning Point 06- 35,000 Buys
Final Resolution 07- 34,000 Buys
Against All Odds 07- 23,000 Buys
Destination X 07- 36,000 Buys
Lockdown 07- 35,000 Buys
Sacrifice 07- 21,000 Buys
Slammiversary 07- 22,000 Buys
Victory Road 07- 15,000 Buys
Hard Justice 07- 26,000 Buys
No Surrender 07- 17,000 Buys
Bound for Glory 07- 36,000 Buys
Genesis 07- 27,000 Buys
What you may notice is that the shows with more buys with the exception of Genesis, Bound For Glory and Turning Point got the most buys. Most others with good buys were considered some of the weaker PPVs of the year, creative wise (Hard Justice). Shows that were very strong creatively got low buys (Slammiversary, Victory Road, Sacrifice). I believe after buying poor PPVs, fans decided not to take a chance with others which ended up being better. TNA needs to deliver solid PPVs all throughout the year.
TNA has a growing audience, but who out of that audience wants to pay for a PPV. I don’t believe these numbers as I have seen them differently at other websites. I suggest to TNA to find a PPV Marketing Advisor to help market the PPVs and give the fans good reason to buy the PPVs.
More on TNA’s Creative Team
In Part One I discussed adding Jim Cornette to the creative team. Cornette is already with the company and hiring someone else would just cost the company more. However I have heard of Court Bauer. He booked Velocity back in 2004 for a while and he kept it interesting. I figure that if he has some good ideas, then TNA should hire him. To me the TNA Creative Team should be a 5-Man team. Vince Russo, Jim Cornette, Mike Tenay, Scott D’Amore and someone else (like Court Bauer). This could be a good mix offering some varying ideas and opinions.
When Jeff Jarrett returns he could be editor of the team.
So in conclusion:
TNA has a laundry list of problems. The company could be better, but again it could be worse. Some improvements do need to be made. TNA has made many mistakes before and they will make many, many more. TNA will slowly correct their mistakes and then it is smooth sailing. TNA will grow in ratings, buyrates and fanbase. For the fans of TNA, hang in through all the hard times and you will eventually witness some very good times. To get to the promised land you have to walk on hot, sharp rocks (which TNA is currently doing). WWE did it, ECW did it, WCW did it, and eventually, maybe ROH will do it.
I Think This Is A Really Good Read But I also Believe Ring Of Honor Will Get Bigger as Stated Above faster Than TNA
By Talon Thorne (Aka Damian Reign)
I am in a much better mood this time than I was last time. I read Jim Cornette’s letter on TNA Wrestling.com and thought it was pretty funny. Thank you for the feedback last column. I will now do my second half of my column. TNA 101 from now on can only be read at TNA’s Fan Forum and if I get “hired” by this site to post columns. No big deal either way. Here is part to of “Silencing the Critics”
They say that TNA lost the opportunity to put the World Championship on the potential new face of TNA, Samoa Joe
As wrestling performers what do, Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Booker T, Raven and Tommy Dreamer have in common? Everyone knows that the money is in the chase. What these stars have in common is that they constantly were held away from the World Title until eventually, after many expected, they finally won it. It took Benoit and Guerrero four years after their arrival in the WWE to finally win World Titles. This isn’t even counting all the time they wrestled before coming to the WWE. When this happens, the storyline changes into capturing their destiny. Many thought Raven would win the TNA Title in 2003, but he didn’t end up winning it until 2005. Many fans consider that time period as the best ever for TNA.
Samoa Joe has been in TNA for less than three years. For many stars it takes much longer. John Cena did it in about 3 and a half while it took Rob Van Dam 5 years. It all depends how the eventual title win is built up. Right now isn’t a good time to give Samoa Joe a World Title since fans aren’t behind his whiny attitude. I would rebuild Samoa Joe up with his bad ass attitude then have him take the title.
The stars of TNA are unhappy there
These accumulate off of reports of low backstage morale for TNA. The Internet hurts TNA once again, go figure. In every company there will be people unhappy with the company or with their roles in the company. From what I understand, TNA does in fact have a few unhappy individuals. However they also have many happy individuals, most are the ones currently rising in the company and are in the main event scene. Unfortunately for the unhappy ones, their windows to leave the company are just about closed. One question I have is if so many people hate being in TNA, why is it that Senshi was the only one at the meeting to take the release? Why is it that he still has ties with TNA even after he is gone? Was he really that unhappy?
TNA wasted one of it’s top talents with Chris Harris, who was there since day one.
Chris Harris in a better position now then he was with TNA. Would you push a guy who had a contract running out. Harris had attitude problems in February of 2007. He didn’t sign a contract extension even when he was pushed in June 2007. His window closed pretty quickly. He complained about his role even though his mic skills were limited. In my opinion TNA got the better half of AMW in James Storm.
TNA is WWE-Lite, not a wrestling alternative like they claim they are
Not since late 2006 has TNA called itself the New Face of Professional Wrestling or the True Wrestling Alternative. What their company introduction says is: TNA Wrestling delivers a distinct brand of high-risk, athletic entertainment. TNA’s roster includes the biggest names in wrestling today, such as Kurt Angle, Booker T, Kevin Nash and Christian Cage, as well as the hottest new stars in the business: AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, Samoa Joe, Black Machismo, the Latin American Xchange and the Motor City Machineguns. TNA features the innovative six-sided ring and the high flying “X Division”, as well as the concept matches such as the high-wire spectacle “Ultimate X”, “King of the Mountain”, “Six Sides of Steel”, “Lethal Lockdown”, and “Elevation X”, considered to be the most dangerous match in professional wrestling. TNA Entertainment is a privately held company headquartered in Nashville.
To me they seem to be telling the truth in this statement. Nowhere does it say they are an alternative. They do have high-risk, athletic entertainment. They do have innovative matches and the hottest up and coming superstars.
As for being WWE-Lite, WCW originally focused on pure in-ring competition. They were a distant second until the introduction of many WWE-jects from WWE and becoming more storyline driven (like WWE was). Until then did they start beating WWE in ratings and eventually become #1 in the business. There is plenty of room in the world of sports entertainment for two storyline style wrestling promotions. It was Vince Russo who in fact moved WWE into storyline “Attitude Era” style wrestling. To me TNA can have the storylines; they just need to match it with wrestling, because “We are wrestling”. They need to uphold that statement.
TNA has stupid matches like the Reverse Battle Royal and Feast or Fired
While I understand hating the Reverse Battle Royal I thought that the Feast or Fired Match was pretty logical. I am not running down the rules. TNA was looking to get some of that Money in the Bank love from the fans. This match pretty much said I don’t want to be in TNA if I can’t be champion. Most of these guys were risking their jobs for a shot at the TNA Title. Yes the match was chaotic, yes the fallout wasn’t done well, yes we should have seen the results on the PPV. Overall however it was a pretty fun match to watch and was pretty unique.
To me, I agree that the Reverse Battle Royal in the Fight for the Right Tournament is stupid. I would eliminate this match all together and keep the Fight for the Right Tournament. Instead of the Reverse Battle Royal have all the participants move straight into the Gauntlet Match (much like the X Division Triple Chance Tournament from 2003). Only the last 7 in the match move on into the tournament. The winner of the gauntlet skips to the finals of the tournament where he faces the other finalist who has to win both a singles match and the 3-Way Collision to get there. If done right, the Fight for the Right Tournament could be like King of the Ring and advance up and coming stars into the main event scene.
There is too much comedy on TNA iMPACT!
I kind of addressed this about the comedic stars. I will say that about 60% of the humor on TNA iMPACT!, I find funny. There is definitely way too much humor on the show. When a serious blood feud is happening, they aren’t supposed to joke around about it. In wrestling there is a time and place for everything. Most heels aren’t supposed to be funny even though they can be. This problem should be fixed.
TNA needs to be saved because its dying
Let me make this clear to everyone reading this. In no way whatsoever is TNA dying or looking like its dying. TNA is growing in every possible way. The rating are growing really slowly and if they weren’t, Spike TV would still be happy with TNA for maintaining their ratings. TNA is going on the road with House Shows (some successful and some not so much). TNA now have partnerships with both UFC and New Japan Pro Wrestling, both of which could help TNA in the end. TNA Today is one of the most watched Internet Shows on Youtube. The Audience is growing. Whether you love or hate TNA, you can’t look away.
More on TNA Ratings Growth
I talked about TNA Ratings growth a little in Part One. I don’t have the facts or figures in front of me at the moment but a reader asked me to speak a little more on this. In 2004, TNA iMPACT! debuted on Fox Sports Net. The show had a sporty theme to it, complete with time limits and judges to determine a winner. I believe iMPACT! on FSN averaged about 0.4 Rating. This wasn’t below average for TNA since they eventually would be dropping their weekly PPVs in favor of the weekly TV show. After over a year in that Ratings Range, FSN and TNA didn’t renew their agreement. (Side Note: TNA paid a pretty penny for their timeslot on FSN to only be bumped by other sports shows).
After a summer of airing TNA iMPACT! on the internet, TNA met their saving grace in Spike TV, likely one of its biggest steps up. TNA had a one hour show on Slammin’ Saturday Nights. The focus of the show was primarily on wrestling and the X Division. From what I remember, TNA got .8 rating average, a big bump over the ratings on Spike TV (50% growth). Over the next year TNA went to Thursday Nights, Primetime and eventually 2-Hours in Primetime on Thursdays. In January 2005, the first appearance of Sting on iMPACT! drew TNA’s highest number with 1.1
Right after TNA went to primetime in November 2006, the theme of the show changed from purely wrestling into wrestling/entertainment. The ratings bounced from 0.9 to 1.2’s over the next year until recently. TNA went two hours on Spike TV and despite having a more show to keep ratings up, TNA did that and then some. Through Christmas Season, Thanksgiving and a one night war with ECW, TNA maintained its 1.1 average hitting 1.2 recently with its highest viewing audience in history. This viewing audience was higher than what WWE drew for the ECW show earlier in the week.
TNA is growing ever so slowly. While the overall audience isn’t growing very fast, TNA has created a very loyal audience who stuck with them through thick and thin. TNA grabs new viewers with time while maintaining their audience. Compare these to Raw, Smackdown, ECW and WSX. Over 2007 and into 2008 the ratings lowered for all three shows (WSX was eventually canceled). WWE has way more stroke in the business and way more money to throw around along with bigger names in the business and 2 times the roster size of TNA, yet they can’t maintain their crowd. TNA may have way less fans, but they have way more loyal fans on a percentage basis.
TNA has horrible buyrates
Compared to WWE, TNA has nothing to hold to their flame. According to reports received by the Report (I don’t know how legitimate it is, likely not very):
Genesis 06- 60,000 Buys
Turning Point 06- 35,000 Buys
Final Resolution 07- 34,000 Buys
Against All Odds 07- 23,000 Buys
Destination X 07- 36,000 Buys
Lockdown 07- 35,000 Buys
Sacrifice 07- 21,000 Buys
Slammiversary 07- 22,000 Buys
Victory Road 07- 15,000 Buys
Hard Justice 07- 26,000 Buys
No Surrender 07- 17,000 Buys
Bound for Glory 07- 36,000 Buys
Genesis 07- 27,000 Buys
What you may notice is that the shows with more buys with the exception of Genesis, Bound For Glory and Turning Point got the most buys. Most others with good buys were considered some of the weaker PPVs of the year, creative wise (Hard Justice). Shows that were very strong creatively got low buys (Slammiversary, Victory Road, Sacrifice). I believe after buying poor PPVs, fans decided not to take a chance with others which ended up being better. TNA needs to deliver solid PPVs all throughout the year.
TNA has a growing audience, but who out of that audience wants to pay for a PPV. I don’t believe these numbers as I have seen them differently at other websites. I suggest to TNA to find a PPV Marketing Advisor to help market the PPVs and give the fans good reason to buy the PPVs.
More on TNA’s Creative Team
In Part One I discussed adding Jim Cornette to the creative team. Cornette is already with the company and hiring someone else would just cost the company more. However I have heard of Court Bauer. He booked Velocity back in 2004 for a while and he kept it interesting. I figure that if he has some good ideas, then TNA should hire him. To me the TNA Creative Team should be a 5-Man team. Vince Russo, Jim Cornette, Mike Tenay, Scott D’Amore and someone else (like Court Bauer). This could be a good mix offering some varying ideas and opinions.
When Jeff Jarrett returns he could be editor of the team.
So in conclusion:
TNA has a laundry list of problems. The company could be better, but again it could be worse. Some improvements do need to be made. TNA has made many mistakes before and they will make many, many more. TNA will slowly correct their mistakes and then it is smooth sailing. TNA will grow in ratings, buyrates and fanbase. For the fans of TNA, hang in through all the hard times and you will eventually witness some very good times. To get to the promised land you have to walk on hot, sharp rocks (which TNA is currently doing). WWE did it, ECW did it, WCW did it, and eventually, maybe ROH will do it.
I Think This Is A Really Good Read But I also Believe Ring Of Honor Will Get Bigger as Stated Above faster Than TNA
