Is There Enough Demand For TNA Wrestling?

[SinCityBlitz]

There is enough demand the problem is that TNA has no clue on how to hook people. Their PPV buy rates speak for themselves. Their "fans" are not buying what they are selling which is always going to be a big problem. But they are only a decade old. They still have time to right the ship in that regard. It takes time.

Another big problem I see all the time is seeing people comparing today's ratings to the Monday Night Wars ratings. Don't bother because it is futile. The MNW was an anomaly. That is not going to happen again. Wrestling has always gone through ups and downs and that will not change any time soon. But you have to take a levelheaded approach when trying to compare eras.

The ratings for WWE right now fall in line with the usual ratings that wrestling pulls. For being a new company TNA is doing good as well.

[MrPlatano1989]

There is definitely enough demand for TNA! Some people focus on the USA and forget about other regions in the world! They are just as important to TNA as any other region, and they are very successful around the world. I dont even have to comment on the UK, I think the impact tour taping in January will show that. The reason TNA has low ratings is because people aren't the same as in the past. I have many friends who love TNA but barely watch it because of their schedules. If thats just my friends, imagine around the country! TNA gets a lot of DVR recordings of the show that are played afterwards, they usually add those numbers to their live ratings to get a good idea of their viewers count. Wrestling isn't as popular as the 90's, it doesn't mean that the product is worse or quality is worse, people are just busy doing or watching other things. If we didn't have previous ratings in wrestling, 1,250,000 sounds like a lot of viewers to me! I c=could go my whole life and wont be able to name that much people. If that much people know about TNA then it is already successful and will only grow in time.

I for one believe if ratings weren't available to the public, we wouldn't be having so many conversations about what TNA needs to do to improve. I for one think TNA has the perfect mix of quality story, wrestling, action, star power, legends, future stars, knockouts, and history to be as incredible as it is!

One of the best things about this business is looking back at history. I started watching TNA back in 2006, they only had 2002-2006 to serve as their history or mark. Thats only 4 years of content and time to grow and expand. Since then they got 2 hours of show, multiple titles, multiple road ppv's, champions, fued, etc. Now we have 10+ years of content and growth. If you trace back a 10 years period in other wrestling companys, you will see many of the stars started off at a lower position, midcard, tag team, openers, dark matches. Eventually some of them became main eventers and have had multiple positions and runs in the company. This is the beauty of wrestling to me, that a guy can sit back one day and run through all their feuds and matches in a company. TNA today has an amazing collection of stars from almost every era, who each are continuing their story and mark. We have seen Storm, Roode, and even Aries rise from their start in the company to what they are now and where they are going! This is why I feel TNA will only get better and better, just imagine an in ring segment one day with an old and retired james storm and bobby roode.. classic!

[Weems2k]

Wrestling just isn't as mainstream, as it was back in the late 90's. I highly doubt we'll eve see ratings as high as Raw, and Nitro had back then. Heck, even Monday Night Football was getting beat by the Ratings War.

Speaking of ratings, you can't really judge a show by that. Just because it pulls a 1, doesn't make it a bad show. Just look at all that reality crap on now these days. Most of them are garbage, yet they seem to get high ratings somehow.

[GameOver]

as much as i take pot shots at TNA and rightly so, there is always a demand for "more" wrestling, the issue is neither WWE or TNA really provide that awesome overall show, TNA is mediocre at best and WWE is a shell of it's former self.

[T2KFreeker]

Demand for TNA? Over a million people watch it a week. I know, it's not the three million thyat WWE pulls down, oh well. Yes, there is a demand. Truthfully though, the company needs to find a fine line between where they are now and where they were around 2004 or so. Bring back enough of what was great in 2004 to being back the old fans. More focus on X-Division, Knockouts and Tag team wrestling. These three things are what got so many people to watch TNA in the first place. Sadly, the Tg team divisions is nothing like it used to be. Mostly just thrown togther teams that will never stay as a Tag Team. Example, the Gut Check segment from last week. We have Prichard asking if he thinks Christian York can survive as a singles star and get that contract. My question is why? Why not pair him up with one of the other Gut Check winners to make a new Tag team? If anything, seems that York would be a fine Tag team wrestler as he is seasoned on it and already has that mentality. Proof that the current plan doean't involve Tag team's. The X-Division is nothing like it used to be. Back when Joe, Daniels and AJ were feuding for the belt, there were so many other great talents in the division that you loved watching just to see who was going to come out nexst week. Remember the World X Cup? Fans loved it. WTF happened to it? The Knockouts are nothing like they were five years ago or so. Now they barely get used and, like it or not, some of TNA's highest ratings numbers has been Knockouts matches, so why not go with it?

In this respect they are following the WWE mold where nothing seems to matter other than the World heavyweight title. Dunno', but I used to love watching wrestling back in the day because there was a variety of what you would see and TNA has seemed to go farther andf farther from that as the years have worn on and that's what everyone loved about TNA back in the day because it was different. If they could find that fine line between the two era's of the company, it would work out for them and help out with ratings.

[George Steele's Barber]

TNA is fine. They are still on TV and have gone from taped to live while moving in to a more competitive time slot even though original programming like BBT and 30 Rock are back new. These things cost money and the money must be coming from some where. I can sit here and list a million things that are wrong about TNA (why is Bruce Pritchard on tv and why does he dress like Cam from Modern Family?) and the external influences (I'd marry my DVR if my wife was in to that) that stand in it's way but at the end of the day they seem to be growing as a company even if their ratings say otherwise.

Just build some new real face super stars and the audience will grow. Tough guys with charisma, wittiness and a sense of humor. Easier said than done but not impossible.

[KJ]

Do we really need more threads to validate TNA's existance? It gets passable ratings, right? It gets PPV buyrates, right? It's got a good roster, right? Quality TV, right? Then why do people talk like if it was a sinkhole of money and such? It's not. It's doing OK. Why the hell worry so much? Who gives a damn if WWE is doing better?

[Lorenzo von Matterhorn]

I agree with IDR, for as much of his post that I actually read. Which was pretty much the statement: "Wrestling just isn't cool anymore." It's the sad, but inevitable truth. The bigger reality is that television is simply a much more over-saturated market. There is no great demand for TNA, because there is no great demand for professional wrestling among all the other sources of entertainment out there.

Look at Thursday night's alone. At any given time during a broadcast of Impact Wrestling, they are competing with The Office, Big Bang Theory, 30 Rock, Parks & Rec, Up All Night, The X Factor, Glee, Two and a Half Men, Person of Interest, Grey's Anatomy, Last Resort, and god knows what else on all the other channels. And that's just comedy night in America; if they were competing on Mondays against the NFL, they'd be dead in the water.

But it's not just TNA that isn't in high demand. THe only reason WWE is still doing decent cable ratings is that they're a household name. They've been around for so long, people tune in every Monday Night. There are still many, MANY casual wrestling fans that don't use the internet and have no idea what TNA or Impact Wrestling is. You think the kids that wear John Cena shirts know who AJ Styles is? You think they remember Kurt Angle, and check to see what he's up to these day?

And WWE is even doing shitty. Their stocks have sucked for years, and financial experts are saying that their investments will tank in the next two to three years. I guess they're paying twice as much out in investments as they're pulling in annually? THat's kind of a problem. People like to say things like "WWE is fine, they're just competing against the NFL is all." False. THe NFL happens every year (it almost didn't happen last year, but whatever). WWE cable ratings are hitting all-time lows, and they've lost their second and third biggest challengers: Two and a Half Men, and House. One went to Thursdays, and the other ended last season. The Monday TV block is absolutely pathetic right now - probably the weakest it's ever been - and WWE is still pulling in less than a 3.0 during bad NFL game weeks.

There is no demand for pro wrestling. It's just there, it has its fans, and it allows for sustainability. But I doubt it will boom again. I don't think people want it, and I don't think there's a big enough re-capturable audience to be "cool" like it was with the nWo and the start of the Attitude Era. They certainly don't believe it's real anymore, like they did in the 80's and early 90's.