IMPACT! Rating Is In - Did Hulk Hogan Draw?

[Dexter]

For some people, if they're doing a 6.5 this time next year, they'll be saying it sucks and asking why it wasn't an 8. You're never going to be impressed because you don't want to see TNA succeed. Fine, no problem.

Look, no one is saying a .2 increase is a sign of the second coming or anything. Like I said before, it's just "promising". Nothing more, nothing less. We might not know for another year what the full extent of this Hogan business is going to be.

 

[wolvdog316]

Some people might not want TNA to succeed, however, I am not one of them. Wrestling is in a bad time right now. There are no legit characters that I mark out for or would pay money to see on a monthly basis. WCW vs WWE was great cause you had ALL kinds of stars that MADE me want to spend the money to see them. Austin, Rock, Foley, HHH, Goldberg, Outsiders, Hogan, DDP, Sting. And to be honest, quite honest, WCW got most of my viewing attention.

I'll put it this way to show I'm not WWE mark. The Nitro that Goldberg vs Hogan in the Dome, I was scheduled to go on a family vacation. I was going to go to inlaws that week. I DEMANDED I be informed ASAP if they had cable, AND if they did, if they had TNT. I could have cared less if I missed WWF. But there was NO WAY IN HELL I was missing Goldberg vs Hogan. I was NOT going to miss Nitro. There was no way. The moment I marked out the most at, was probably when Sting dropped from the rafters at.....fuck Wargames maybe? No. Not sure. Anyways, I marked out like a 7 year old girl at an Nsync concert when he dropped down and FINALLY attacked the nWo. I can still see Hall slowly entering the ring than WHAM. Place went fucking nuts. Or how about when Sting walked into the ring on Nitro with a bat, dropped the bat and took on the whole nWo. Im getting goose bumps just thinking of that.

And WWF had their moments too. Austin ruining Takers wedding to Steph. Austin returning to screw Rock out of the title vs Mankind. The Rock saving Mankind from Evolution.

THAT'S what I want. THAT'S what I want to get pumped about. And I could give two shits if its ROH, TNA, WWE, or Joe Blows Wrasslin World. Somebody give me that. Anybody. I WANT to be so nervous because I can't figure out which last 5 minutes I want to see, Impact or Raw. I want to be UPSET because a show goes off the air during a HUGE brawl that was building up for months. I want to anticipate Monday Night so bad that I can't sleep good Sunday night. That's what I want.

But sadly, a .2 and a old broken down half Draw like Hogan isn't going to give it to me

 

[Dexter]

First off, Wolvdog, that was a GREAT post. Thank you for that.

Second, no, Hulk himself isn't going to give that to you. The exciting thing here is NOT Hogan's signing. The exciting thing is what it might (very important word there...might) lead to. You KNOW Hogan has connections, and there's scattered reports of him having more talent in mind he'd like to get signed onto TNA.

Think about that... who might he get? Flair most likely but he's not any more exciting anymore than Hogan (fucking hurts to say that, but it's true). Who else though? Maybe he'll finally be enough of a reason for Ken Anderson to sign... or even RVD? The possibilities are endless. When you have Hogan on your side, that means something to a lot of people, and it might just mean enough to sign the one guy that becomes TNA's Stone Cold.

 

[NSL]

Some people might not want TNA to succeed, however, I am not one of them. Wrestling is in a bad time right now. There are no legit characters that I mark out for or would pay money to see on a monthly basis. WCW vs WWE was great cause you had ALL kinds of stars that MADE me want to spend the money to see them. Austin, Rock, Foley, HHH, Goldberg, Outsiders, Hogan, DDP, Sting. And to be honest, quite honest, WCW got most of my viewing attention.

I'll put it this way to show I'm not WWE mark. The Nitro that Goldberg vs Hogan in the Dome, I was scheduled to go on a family vacation. I was going to go to inlaws that week. I DEMANDED I be informed ASAP if they had cable, AND if they did, if they had TNT. I could have cared less if I missed WWF. But there was NO WAY IN HELL I was missing Goldberg vs Hogan. I was NOT going to miss Nitro. There was no way. The moment I marked out the most at, was probably when Sting dropped from the rafters at.....fuck Wargames maybe? No. Not sure. Anyways, I marked out like a 7 year old girl at an Nsync concert when he dropped down and FINALLY attacked the nWo. I can still see Hall slowly entering the ring than WHAM. Place went fucking nuts. Or how about when Sting walked into the ring on Nitro with a bat, dropped the bat and took on the whole nWo. Im getting goose bumps just thinking of that.

And WWF had their moments too. Austin ruining Takers wedding to Steph. Austin returning to screw Rock out of the title vs Mankind. The Rock saving Mankind from Evolution.

THAT'S what I want. THAT'S what I want to get pumped about. And I could give two shits if its ROH, TNA, WWE, or Joe Blows Wrasslin World. Somebody give me that. Anybody. I WANT to be so nervous because I can't figure out which last 5 minutes I want to see, Impact or Raw. I want to be UPSET because a show goes off the air during a HUGE brawl that was building up for months. I want to anticipate Monday Night so bad that I can't sleep good Sunday night. That's what I want.

But sadly, a .2 and a old broken down half Draw like Hogan isn't going to give it to me

I'm quoting all of this, just to agree with this:

First off, Wolvdog, that was a GREAT post. Thank you for that.

Think about that... who might he get? Flair most likely but he's not any more exciting anymore than Hogan (fucking hurts to say that, but it's true). Who else though? Maybe he'll finally be enough of a reason for Ken Anderson to sign... or even RVD? The possibilities are endless. When you have Hogan on your side, that means something to a lot of people, and it might just mean enough to sign the one guy that becomes TNA's Stone Cold.

This is all of the reason why I'm so torn on the future of TNA. I love the product as it is, and want it to flourish "as is", but realistically, I know I'll need to accept changes. This is the beginning of a long line of "sink or swim" moves for TNA, no matter what they do while Hogan and Eric are involved.

I winced when you said Anderson...Please don't bring him in TNA

RVD would be amazing. He could be fighting Hornswoggle in an old school Monster's Ball, and I'd pay $50 for the PPV.

 

[Lancer]

Well first off, the ratings don't really surprise me one bit...they hyped it up at the beginning of the show, but didn't really show any highlights or video of Hogan's signing towards the end of the program. So it was essentially a normal Impact show. You may have to assume Impact will achieve similar ratings next week, as I believe they tape the show twice a day, or back-to-back or something like that. Next week we may have some taped vignettes of the TNA stars giving their reaction to the news, maybe a vid from the Hulkster himself.

I think the ratings will improve gradually at first, then start to rise faster as Hogan becomes an regular part of the program. It's really too early to tell this early in the proceedings. It would have been a hell of a lot better if TNA had a live taping happening around the time of the signing, so they could break the big news to a live audience. Of course, they could hype it up like nothing else beforehand to help get the news out there. In any case, when Hogan graces the Impact Zone with his presence and actually gets to mingle with the stars, the goosebumps will begin to set in.

 

[NSL]

As far as I know, last week's Impact was the last one taped so far. I don't know if that means that Hogan debuts live next week, or if they do like you said, and add in some vignettes. The best bet to boost ratings, is to have him debut next week, but I'm still torn on whether or not I want him in the ring full-time, or even part-time. It's too early to say either way, and I'll have to take it like it comes, just like everyone else.

 

[mayhem]

If ratings can go up to Smackdowns level then no one can complain that Hulk Hogan is anything but an asset to TNA. If Hogan gets them half their ratings or close to that that would prove that Hogan is still the biggest drawing wrestler of all time. 1.3 rating and he wasn't even present.

 

[johnbragg]

As far as I know, last week's Impact was the last one taped so far.

You know what bugs me? When people posting on a message board ON THE INTERNET can't be bothered to look up easily available information ON THE INTERNET.

Tnawrestling.com, let's see. Hey, look, Billy, "See TNA Wrestling Live. "
11/2 and 11/3: Impact Orlando. So there you go.

I have to say, on a different note, I disagree with the way TNA went about the presentation of Hogan on Impact. Reviewers kind of had a point about the confusing timeframe--the press conference was on Tuesday, the show shows on Thursday. Second, they had nothing to go with except for the underwhelming press conference footage.

Couldn't Dixie have gotten a hold of whoever runs things in Orlando on Tuesday and told them that Hogan was coming, and to get some reactions from TNA stars? Get a camera, get a set, get Borash or Tenay and have him ask Sting, Nash, AJ Styles, Angle, Foley, Taz, Samoa Joe, Scott Steiner, Don West and Amazing Red about what having Hogan in TNA means. Run one comment before and after each segment.

Then, open the show with Dixie behind a backdrop in NY announcing that Hogan is coming to TNA and that they will be showing interview footage during the broadcast. Admit that the show is taped, say something about ensuring the highest quality broadcast through editing, and go from there.

 

[DarkAngel]

Great number for TNA, esp going head to head with top notch competitors on the night. This isn't surprising, consistency is what tames the bull. Now, we all knew that they were only showing Hogans press conference, so I expect these number to hike up weekly if Hogan appears on iMpact! on a weekly basis. If more marquee wrestlers are scheduled to sign, then TNA will take off.

I was wondering if any of you guys had any information on Sting? There was only one report lost in the shuffle that Sting is excited and has no plans on retiring or leaving TNA. Can any of this be confirmed and is there more on Sting?

 

[The Doctor]

You know what bugs me? When people posting on a message board ON THE INTERNET can't be bothered to look up easily available information ON THE INTERNET.

Tnawrestling.com, let's see. Hey, look, Billy, "See TNA Wrestling Live. "
11/2 and 11/3: Impact Orlando. So there you go.

You know what bugs me? When people use condescending tones to people who are better than them in order to make themselves feel better. NSL said "as far as I know" for a reason, and I don't see what your quoting of house show dates has anything to do with anything.


On topic, I'm hoping the Hogan-TNA deal becomes something huge. I grew up during the Monday Night Wars but wasn't a fan back then. I enjoy wrestling now but I want to have something to be thrilled about. I want to see hot crowds at every show, wave upon wave of posterboard signs, the works. If it takes Hogan, Flair, Bischoff, Ken Anderson, RVD, or whoever to make WWE take notice, I'm all for it.

Now, I'm not a TNA fan. I've seen a few episodes and enjoyed it but I don't go out of my way to watch it or record it. If the rating, signing, and everything else are signs of things to come than I just might have to start recording four wrestling shows a week.

 

[gd]

This just shows how powerful Hulk Hogan is in the wrestling world. The mere signing of him without much advertisment at all got 20% more people to tune into a show where Hogan was only featured in a press conference. There is no other person in the wrestling world that could do that for TNA, not one. I would imagine once he gets advertised more often and starts becoming a major part of some storylines in TNA, the ratings will go up even more, TNA may be able to reach somewhere around a 2.0 a few months down the road if everything goes well.

This is why the Hogan signing was great for TNA. It may not necessarily give them a better product, a 56 year old man is actually much more likely to hurt it slightly. However, Hogan will greatly increase TNA's audience, and they will stay because of the great product TNA currently has with guys like Styles and Morgan.

 

[Paney94]

Well i think that the .3 rating is a step in the right direction, with the signing of Hogan doing a press conference to get .3 more than it was last week is incredible, hopefully TNA Really hypes up hogans debut in the Impact Zone. It will be very interesting to see how hogan helps TNA since he will be doing his Hulkamania tour in Australia (Which im going to By the way at the burswood dome! lol 2nd row)

 

[Enigma]

You know what bugs me? When people posting on a message board ON THE INTERNET can't be bothered to look up easily available information ON THE INTERNET.

Tnawrestling.com, let's see. Hey, look, Billy, "See TNA Wrestling Live. "
11/2 and 11/3: Impact Orlando. So there you go.

I have to say, on a different note, I disagree with the way TNA went about the presentation of Hogan on Impact. Reviewers kind of had a point about the confusing timeframe--the press conference was on Tuesday, the show shows on Thursday. Second, they had nothing to go with except for the underwhelming press conference footage.

Couldn't Dixie have gotten a hold of whoever runs things in Orlando on Tuesday and told them that Hogan was coming, and to get some reactions from TNA stars? Get a camera, get a set, get Borash or Tenay and have him ask Sting, Nash, AJ Styles, Angle, Foley, Taz, Samoa Joe, Scott Steiner, Don West and Amazing Red about what having Hogan in TNA means. Run one comment before and after each segment.

Then, open the show with Dixie behind a backdrop in NY announcing that Hogan is coming to TNA and that they will be showing interview footage during the broadcast. Admit that the show is taped, say something about ensuring the highest quality broadcast through editing, and go from there.

From what I hear, that's planned for Monday's tapings. They aired the promo at the beginning but they also made sure it wouldn't take any momentum away from Desmond Wolfe/Kurt Angle.

 

[HBK-aholic]

There's no denying that TNA had a jump in ratings last week with the signing of Hogan. However, that was to be expected. A lot of people tuned into TNA solely to see Hogan or see what was said about his impending return. I don't want TNA to fail despite not watching it myself, so I'm simply hoping that they can continue a ratings increase and putting on a high quality show. Basically, I'm saying well done TNA, but it's early days so we need to wait a while and see what happens before getting too excited about Hogans drawing power or TNA as a force against WWE.

 

[Saritafan]

man,I wanna see if TNA can get beyond a 1.3,I think they were really close this time but didn't quiet make it,If they get a 1.4-1.6,then it I will be marking out

this ratins as really good but they drew this rating before even when hogan wasn't there so it shows TNA doesn't really need him but the coming weeks,if the ratings inprove beyond a 1.3 and it stays that way,then hogan is definitly worth it

 

[NSL]

As excited as I (and we) got over the .2 jump, this week will be the true test. It'll be Hogan's official Impact debut, and the first show with him and Eric at the controls per se. We'll get to see what (if any) changes there are, as well as what they have planned for Hogan. I'm sure he'll get a few matches, but will he be an active wrestler, or a backstage personality, similar to JJ when he returned, or Foley when he started?

If Hogan is going to cause a jump, this will be the week to see it. Impact could (should?) draw over a 1.5, at least.

 

[PEP3]

My bet: 1.3 once again.