Impact Wrestling over taking Smackdown?

[Cena's #1 In My Heart]

So Impact Wrestling seems to be getting positive reviews lately.. hell I've liked it for the past several years.. so I've never been a hater on them.

But what happens when Impact Wrestling starts scoring better than Smackdown? And trust me.. it will..

Impacts latest rating was like a 1.28 (above average for them)

Smackdowns latest rating was a 1.63 (pretty bad for Smackdown)

That's getting closer....

And with Impact Wrestling going on the road(at least part time), surely that can only help the company's exposure...

Now I don't expect the ratings to pass anytime soon... but it is interesting... There's something building there..

Smackdown's ratings seem to slowly but surely be dropping off week by week.. and well recently Impact Wrestling's ratings have been growing slightly... though they tend to go up and then back down...

but if Impact can keep doing what their doing, putting out solid shows, take it on the road weekly... I think Impact could easily take over Smackdown.. if done right....

Thoughts?

 

[AttitudeAJM]

Smackdown went from national television to cable. Not to mention the fact that Friday Night is just not that strong of a pro wrestling night. Smackdown's ratings drop has more to do with the situation and less to do with the product. They've actually had a pretty good product for some time now.

 

[The Underking]

For some reason I just don't believe that Impact Wrestling will overtake Smackdown in the near future. Mainly because Impact Wrestling has never gotten above a 1.5 and you already pointed out whats Smackdown current number. It takes more then a couple good episodes to get an established fallowing. Plus I honestly thought Smackdown was much better then Impact Wrestling last week best wrestling show on TV Last Week.

But anyways if Impact Wrestling ever does get above Smackdown well I believe the WWE would be alot more agressive against Impact Wrestling. Probably rape thier roster for talent for one thing. And hopefully establish a much better product on Raw every week

 

[Jeff]

I think if Impact Wrestling does overtake Smackdown it will be because Smackdown ratings drop like crazy, not because Impact ratings are spiking up or anything.

Impact isn't that entertaining. The story lines are often all over the place, they are focusing on guys who are over the hill, only there for money and nobody really cares about anymore (other then maybe Anderson) and they have an owner who is too nice to actually do anything about any of this. I am sorry but they shouldn't be pushing a guys like Bully Ray, RVD or Matt Hardy (when he was there). What are they really going to do for your company in two years? Nothing! They will be gone. They need to focus on guys like AJ Styles, Storm, Roode, Joe and the entire X-Divison, which it seems like they are slowly starting to do once again but eventually they will be forgotten again. As long as Bischoff and Hogan are there (who are really only there for a easy paycheck lets be honest) they really won't care about improving the product. They might make it look like they do, but they don't.

Regardless back to the topic on hand. When Impact Wrestling beats Smackdown in the ratings, it will be because Smackdown is about to get cancelled not because Impact is being the new staple wrestling show.

 

[Cena's #1 In My Heart]

Well Smackdown might be the best wrestling show, as Impact Wrestling doesn't devote quite as much time as they should.

I still find Impact Wrestling more entertaining. I just don't like how the WWE's matches are slowed down.. it really makes it boring.. I mean.. Michael Cole.. the worst announcer ever... can't even stay on topic for 3/4 of the show.

Honestly, if there is one thing that makes me not want to watch WWE it's Michael Cole and the slower paced wrestling. Michael Cole is so annoying, he spends more time bashing the product and Booker T rather than actually talking about the wrestlers in the ring.. and when he does talk about them.. he talks about what they said on friggin twitter.

It's funny I actually was complaining about Mike Tenay and Taz not being on the same page last year, they constantly would get off subject and bicker amongst themselves.. apparently my voice was heard or TNA was just sick of it too, because since then I believe Mike Tenay and Taz are the best commentating team on TV today. By a LONNNG SHOT.

So with Smackdown obviously losing ground every week.. I defiantly think Impact Wrestling has a chance.

I wonder what it will be like when Impact does beat Smackdown.. even one week...

 

[KNPKH2ster]

I can't really say if Impact Wrestling is taking over SmackDown or not, but I'm assuming the low ratings of SmackDown have other factors involved instead. The reason why SmackDown's ratings are dropping because:
1. It's summer (Not everyone wants to watch TV during the summer)
2. Friday (Similar to above, except its year round)
3. Over exposure of Michael Cole
4. No must see feud


Regarding the feud thing, I know that Christian vs Orton is a good feud but it's nowhere near as good as CM Punk vs Jeff Hardy back in SmackDown during the summer of 2009. The feud between Punk and Hardy was considered the must see feud of the summer. Also, with the situation of Michael Cole, the commentators aren't doing their job on SmackDown but they are just basically arguing for no apparent reason. I believe that Cole should stay exclusive to Raw and PPVs and be replaced with Jim Ross on SmackDown. At least when JR was there from 2008-2009, he was giving quality commentary.

 

[A.T.Rowl]

I think if Impact Wrestling does overtake Smackdown it will be because Smackdown ratings drop like crazy, not because Impact ratings are spiking up or anything.

Impact isn't that entertaining. The story lines are often all over the place, they are focusing on guys who are over the hill, only there for money and nobody really cares about anymore (other then maybe Anderson) and they have an owner who is too nice to actually do anything about any of this. I am sorry but they shouldn't be pushing a guys like Bully Ray, RVD or Matt Hardy (when he was there). What are they really going to do for your company in two years? Nothing! They will be gone. They need to focus on guys like AJ Styles, Storm, Roode, Joe and the entire X-Divison, which it seems like they are slowly starting to do once again but eventually they will be forgotten again. As long as Bischoff and Hogan are there (who are really only there for a easy paycheck lets be honest) they really won't care about improving the product. They might make it look like they do, but they don't.

Regardless back to the topic on hand. When Impact Wrestling beats Smackdown in the ratings, it will be because Smackdown is about to get cancelled not because Impact is being the new staple wrestling show.

I love how a discussion about ratings points and television logistics makes some people think its time for their personal opinion. Get over yourself. If there was a thread about how raw beats impact in the ratings should I go there and birch about cena sucking? Its irrelevant

 

[PhD]

I love how a discussion about ratings points and television logistics makes some people think its time for their personal opinion. Get over yourself. If there was a thread about how raw beats impact in the ratings should I go there and birch about cena sucking? Its irrelevant

At what point did the OP address "television logisitics"? I guess you find the argument 'Impact's ratings are going up, Smackdown's ratings are going down: ergo, Impact will eventually outdraw Smackdown' to be based on solid logic, not opinion? Give me a break. Try googling "extrapolation fallacy."

Jeff's point was that as long as Smackdown is booking a better show than Impact, it's nonsensical to believe Impact will ever beat Smackdown in the ratings, especially given the brand value of the WWE name to casual viewers. That may be an opinion, but it's a hell of a lot more well reasoned than the initial assertion made by the threadstarter.

 

[Cena's #1 In My Heart]

At what point did the OP address "television logisitics"? I guess you find the argument 'Impact's ratings are going up, Smackdown's ratings are going down: ergo, Impact will eventually outdraw Smackdown' to be based on solid logic, not opinion? Give me a break. Try googling "extrapolation fallacy."

Jeff's point was that as long as Smackdown is booking a better show than Impact, it's nonsensical to believe Impact will ever beat Smackdown in the ratings, especially given the brand value of the WWE name to casual viewers. That may be an opinion, but it's a hell of a lot more well reasoned than the initial assertion made by the threadstarter.

Your right.. it is an opinion..

Smackdown might be a better booking show than Impact... Smackdown dosen't have nearly the size roster that Impact has! It would be hard to book all of Impact's roster correctly..

but thats what makes Impact more exciting... your not always sure what your going to get when you tune in... for instance... RVD vs Jerry Lynn Vs Aj Styles Vs Christopher Daniels... WHO THE FUCK EVER SAY THAT COMING?!?

Smackdown this week.. well I'm sure were going to get some more between Rhodes/Dibease and Daniel Bryan.... Christian will continue to chase the World Title while Orton slowly stares off for at least 4 minutes of the program... Sin Cara will the most fast paced match of the night... The Usos and Gabriel/Slater probably will have another meeting... so predictable.

I find Impact more entertaining simply for the fact... YOU DON'T KNOW where the booking is ever headed... unless you read spoilers.

Not to mention, the more free flowing and faster paced matches of Impact Wrestling make the matches more enjoyable to watch... In my Opinion. I can't stand WWE's over selling.. the guys hit a move and then we really have to sit through 30 seconds of the guy slowly getting up.. glancing at the referee... glancing at the crowd.. slowly walking over to his opponent... oh come on already! The matches look more legit in TNA.. like they aren't just letting the other person.. "hit their moves".. they seem to actually fight for the chance to hit their moves and counters and such. Which you get in the WWE too.. its just a lot more slowed down..

 

[Dude_Love87]

The WWE needs to combine both Rosters and put Smackdown back on thursdays. I have not watched smackdown since I've been back in wrestling, and do not plan to, nor TNA for that matter.

 

[PhD]

Your right.. it is an opinion..

Smackdown might be a better booking show than Impact... Smackdown dosen't have nearly the size roster that Impact has! It would be hard to book all of Impact's roster correctly..

but thats what makes Impact more exciting... your not always sure what your going to get when you tune in... for instance... RVD vs Jerry Lynn Vs Aj Styles Vs Christopher Daniels... WHO THE FUCK EVER SAY THAT COMING?!?

Smackdown this week.. well I'm sure were going to get some more between Rhodes/Dibease and Daniel Bryan.... Christian will continue to chase the World Title while Orton slowly stares off for at least 4 minutes of the program... Sin Cara will the most fast paced match of the night... The Usos and Gabriel/Slater probably will have another meeting... so predictable.

I find Impact more entertaining simply for the fact... YOU DON'T KNOW where the booking is ever headed... unless you read spoilers.

Not to mention, the more free flowing and faster paced matches of Impact Wrestling make the matches more enjoyable to watch... In my Opinion. I can't stand WWE's over selling.. the guys hit a move and then we really have to sit through 30 seconds of the guy slowly getting up.. glancing at the referee... glancing at the crowd.. slowly walking over to his opponent... oh come on already! The matches look more legit in TNA.. like they aren't just letting the other person.. "hit their moves".. they seem to actually fight for the chance to hit their moves and counters and such. Which you get in the WWE too.. its just a lot more slowed down..

I understand that you prefer the TNA style, but this does nothing to substantiate your claim that TNA will pass Smackdown in the ratings. The TNA v. WWE argument has been done to death, and I have no desire to rehash it here for the millionth time. You have nothing beyond your own experience to suggest that an extra million or so people will actually come to enjoy TNA's "unpredictable" (a less charitable person might say "slapdash," or "pointless," or even "shitty") booking in comparison to WWE's "predictable" (a more charitable person might say "thoughtful," or "planned with the long term in mind") booking.

So, it's great that you like TNA, but that also doesn't make you the Nostradaus of television ratings.

 

[Jeff]

I love how a discussion about ratings points and television logistics makes some people think its time for their personal opinion. Get over yourself. If there was a thread about how raw beats impact in the ratings should I go there and birch about cena sucking? Its irrelevant

HAHAHAHAHAH what are you talking about? The quality of the shows is what drives the ratings...which is what this thread is all about so it makes perfect sense for me to talk about the quality of the shows. Smackdown right now just has a better program (and there program isn't really that good). Impact Wrestling recently has been showing a lot of improvement with highlighting the X-Divison, more air time for guys like AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, etc. Hopefully they continue this trend and the ratings will continue to rise but I highly doubt they will. Eventually they will go back to the crap programming they were doing a few months ago and when that happens the ratings will either drop or stay where they are. Like I mentioned before the only way I can see Impact Wrestling beating Smackdown with the current programming Impact Wrestling airs is if Smackdown's product takes a drastic turn for the worse.

Lastly, you love how a discussion about ratings points and television logistics makes some people think its time for their personal opinion. You know what I love...when someone makes a little remark in a thread, bashing someones opinion but never actually adds anything to the thread. I love how the only comment you make in this thread is about how you hate when people get off topic of the thread. Way to NOT do that.

 

[Cena's #1 In My Heart]

I understand that you prefer the TNA style, but this does nothing to substantiate your claim that TNA will pass Smackdown in the ratings. The TNA v. WWE argument has been done to death, and I have no desire to rehash it here for the millionth time. You have nothing beyond your own experience to suggest that an extra million or so people will actually come to enjoy TNA's "unpredictable" (a less charitable person might say "slapdash," or "pointless," or even "shitty") booking in comparison to WWE's "predictable" (a more charitable person might say "thoughtful," or "planned with the long term in mind") booking.

So, it's great that you like TNA, but that also doesn't make you the Nostradaus of television ratings.

I think people's eyes just need to be opened a little more. And once you open their eyes, they will reaLEYES (it rhymes.. )

In terms of In-Ring quality, I just don't even see how WWE's can be considered more entertaining. Besides the fact that maybe the viewer feels like WWE's in ring action means more.. because it does... they are bigger company, their legacy is huge.

I'd rather take more entertaining matches over worrying about who's legacy is going up and down in the WWE.

 

[PhD]

I think people's eyes just need to be opened a little more. And once you open their eyes, they will reaLEYES (it rhymes.. )

In terms of In-Ring quality, I just don't even see how WWE's can be considered more entertaining. Besides the fact that maybe the viewer feels like WWE's in ring action means more.. because it does... they are bigger company, their legacy is huge.

I'd rather take more entertaining matches over worrying about who's legacy is going up and down in the WWE.

I think you need to realize that good storytelling is what attracts most people to pro-wrestling in the first place. I like quality wrestling, which is why I go to see ROH every time they come to Chicago. I watch both TNA and Smackdown, and I enjoy them both for different reasons. But in the age of MMA, you are not going to hook the casual viewer with technical wrestling. You need to provide an accessible yet detailed narrative, and Smackdown easily has the best storylines in televised wrestling.

Vince Russo wants you to believe he's being edgy, when in reality his storylines border on illegible. I mean, the guy is reduced to stealing gimmicks from indy workers, so it's no surprise he can't book a show that maintains internal logical coherence from month to month.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

It's true that SmackDown! ratings have been dropping as of late but the time of year might have something to do with that. More people go out on Friday than any other night of the week. Plus we're right in the middle of summer, including the middle of the summer movie season. The weather's generally great, if hot and humid, people have been working all week, teenagers are out of school, people are more likely to head out in the warm weather to go to the movies or clubs or concerts or what have you. Once the summer is over, SmackDown! will most likely go back to the 1.9s and 2s that they tend to draw for much of the rest of the year. That's how the ratings trend has been for the past few years.

When it comes to Impact Wrestling, they've only just become something that I think is watchable. For the better part of two years, TNA's been just awful with their 20-30 minute promo segments, the constant rehashing of the faction wars/corporate power struggle storyline, the X Division meaning nothing, the Knockouts meaning nothing, everything basically being irrelevant unless it's part of the big storyline, lackluster 3 minute matches, etc. Over the past month or so, TNA has steered away from that format and, as a result, they've become more entertaining to watch. However, wrestling content up until this past month or so has been beyond dreadful. As I said, not only have the matches generally not meant anything, but they barely last longer than 3 minutes. Everything else has been devoted to putting over Hulk Hogan, Eric Bischoff and the continuation of the latest nWo inspired faction power struggle.

As for which "style", there's usually not all that much difference. The one big difference I've noticed is that TNA puts more stock in high flying spot monkeys than WWE does. Those wrestlers generally don't click with me most of the time. Their matches tend to consist of going into one mindless high spot after another at the expense of selling the moves, telling a story and generally doing anything to make me care about the people in the match. Sure, those matches can be fun at times and often are when they happen. But the problem is that there are so many high spots packed in at the expense of everything else that you forget what happened during the match 10 minutes after it happened.

The whole WWE vs. TNA thing has kind of been done to death and TNA really isn't any closer than they have been. TNA tends to draw anywhere from the low 1.1s to the mid to upper 1.2s on average. For me to really see them as having a shot, I think they're going to have to consistently grow in the ratings past their all time high that was set back on January 4, 2010. TNA has never drawn higher than a 1.5 and until they do on a steady & regular basis, WWE shouldn't be concerned.

 

[16mikeytot]

I gotta agree with the majority opinion here. Smackdowns ratings have to do with the show being on Friday nights. Their ratings have nothing to do with Impact. Friday I believe is the worst night for television with movie openings and just the start of the weekend. Just to say impact didn't sustain that 1.27 they drew a 1.1 rating this week. Not to mention you can check out smackdown on YouTube about 10 hours before it actually airs on tv. By the way when smackdown was live on Tuesday that one time I believe it drew a 2.5 with only one day of advertising.

 

[mlp420]

The fact that Smackdown, or any other WWE show outside of Raw can't draw decent ratings anymore is proof to me that the difference between TNA and WWE, is that WWE has John Cena and TNA doesn't.

 

[Rasha]

The fact that Smackdown, or any other WWE show outside of Raw can't draw decent ratings anymore is proof to me that the difference between TNA and WWE, is that WWE has John Cena and TNA doesn't.

Speaking for TNA fans, "THANK GOD FOR THAT!"

To your point, here are a few other things RAW has:

- The guest hosts
- Regular "returns," appearances, and cameos by Attitude Era stars
- The traditional wrestling timeslot
- Clear emphasis and preferred treatment by WWE management

There are much bigger and farther-reaching reasons than Cena that RAW is the dominant show. In truth, Cena being on RAW is not a cause of its success but more the effect. In other words; Cena is on RAW because it's the top show. RAW's not the top show because Cena's there. If Cena moved to Smackdown right now, the ratings might increase but there's no chance they'd overtake RAW.

Case in point; I occasionally turn RAW on when there's nothing else (and I mean NOTHING ELSE) on TV. But I would NEVER turn on Smackdown. One reason; I'm usually doing something on a Friday night. Another; I don't even remember it's on. That has nothing to do with Cena. It's just a matter of RAW being the more memorable and self-sustaining brand and me having a part of my brain wired to watch wrestling on Monday nights.

 

[CommonSense]

Smackdown has a few problems.

1. Sci Fy is not a good wrestling station.

2. Not to many people are going to sit in and watch wrestling on a friday.

Impact i think has a chance to do it they really need to do something to attract outside viewers. It seems like anything they do there ratings stay the same and sometimes i don't understand why.

 

[MattTheMacineDay]

As of late, i can't watch smackdown, its so boring! Impact in the last couple of weeks has been pretty good. Smackdown needs something else happening. Orton vs christian is only good for a couple of months i say. I can see Smackdown getting really low ratings in the next couple of weeks after the Orton vs Christain ends. There arent really any guys that are grabbig my attention. I have seen both shows live, and the Smackdown one kinda bit, only good mtach was orton. everyone else kinda went flat.
With Impact the whole "crazy sting" is kinda funny actually. I mean im not a TNA fan by all means, but as of late Impact has more enjoyable to watch then smackdown IMO.

 

[Hardcore Heathen]

I don't really know much about ratings and basically anything in America but all I know is that Impact last week or the week before got better ratings than Smackdown and RAW combinedin the UK. Draw your own conclusions. But the Friday everyone gets pissed arguement makes the most sense here. Although I like Impact better than snackdown just because of a few weeks of decent programming doesn't increase the ratings really quickly. Week after week it has to be solid to get better ratings. If it stays like this for another few months it might happen. Or they could bring back both Micheal Jackson and Elvis Presley back from the dead and advertise the shit out of it and it may just do better lol.