Is iMPACT! too long?

[TheOneBigWill]

Basically I'm asking the question of what the title asks. Is iMPACT! too long, at being 2 hours long? I know that Raw and Smackdown are the A and B show's respectfully on W.W.E.'s programming schedule and both are two hours, so somehow since T.N.A. only has one main show, it's understandable it should be similar.

However, I find myself longing for iMPACT! to be over almost an hour or an hour and a half in. Some of the matches, even though they're more entertaining to watch than Jamie Noble against William Regal, or Snitsky against C.M. Punk.. are still brutual in their own right.

Personally, just because the "other" company runs 2 hour programming, doesn't mean T.N.A. needs to as well. I think if the company wants to be original and different, it should drop 30 minutes and run 1 hour 30 minute shows. I think they could fit just as much in during that time, cut out one or two pointless and stupid matches and they'd be better off for it.

I could be alone in this, but what are everyone's thoughts on the overall subject? Do you feel iMPACT!, at 2 hours is just right, too long, or not long enough.

 

[klunderbunker]

I'd say that its just right. TNA's main issue to me is that they seem to want to have to cram in everyone into every storyline. As bad as it is now, what would it be like with just an hour or 90 minutes to work with? As many backstage interviews and segments and rough cut or whatever they have to fit in would make an hour unbearable. The two hours would go a lot smoother if every second of it didn't have to have something going on. It's ok to have more than half a second to an intro. Impact is just right in that no matter how long or short it is, the main flaw it has is that too much is going on and everything is overly complicated. The 2 hours allows for the 4 guys not involved in the main storyline to get some tv time.

 

[TheOneBigWill]

I can't stand iMPACT! lately because the fact is, they aren't trying to cram everyone into every segment, they're trying to cram their top feuds into every segment, yet have matches revolving around nothing in general.

How many times do we see Kurt Angle, Team 3D, Booker T and anything with one Tag team feud? Honestly.. Team 3D doesn't need more than 2 segments per show. (one backstage skit, and one match.. if that) Angle doesn't need to be focused on 4 times in one show, especially with 1 in-ring promo, 2 backstage promos and a match.. it's overkill.

The show would be fine at 2 hours, if it wasn't the same people in every segment that makes it seem like it's never-ending.

 

[klunderbunker]

The way impact is booked now makes my head hurt. This is an occasion where TNA could learn something from WWE. Raw is put together very well. Show starts with the big names setting up the ending of the show, then two or three midcard matches, segments about the main event, second biggest feud is progressed, another midcard match, main event, set up next week's show. This formula works and works well. With TNA, mapping out their shows should be added on to the S.A.T.'s. It's the same people every time with an occasional match with Lethal thrown in. The stories have gone on so long taht I don't even know why these people are fighting anymore. Can you imagine them trying to put all of this into a single hour?

 

[TheOneBigWill]

A single hour wouldn't work with the amount of decent feuds they have. L.A.X./Beer Money, Lethal/Dutt, Angle/Styles, (which is beyond old) Joe/Nash/Booker/Sting, then the Knockout's. A single hour couldn't cover that.. but an hour and 30 minutes could.

They'll never drop to that though, because they pride themselves on stupid stuff like "Karen's Angle", "Rough Cut", the billion and a half segments regarding nothing with Rock n' Rave, the Justice Fruitloops League, and 20 more Matt Morgan segments. Seriously, I get it.. he's Cornette's boy, they wanna push shit to the moon.

In the overall right now, they're making more mistakes than making great shows. Lethal lost a pointless match, and the only saving grace was Dutt attacking him AFTER the match. Lethal (a top notch X-Division guy) loses to a Muhammad Hassan rip-off, who'll likely go nowhere.

Morgan gets pushed each week and short of a possible tag team with Abyss, likely won't get anything out of it. I can't see Morgan as World Heavyweight Champion, or especially not X-Division Champion.. so they really need to focus on Abyss and Morgan with an "unwritten team". It could lead to a lot, but the likelyhood of them focusing on Abyss just being randomly put into another situation.. likely. The focus on Morgan and Abyss being a team.. doubtful.

And how many times will Styles and Angle continue to Main Event iMPACT! What's the point of paying $30.00 for a Pay Per View, when I can see the exact same match-ups one week on free television anyways?

 

[klunderbunker]

Amen Will. This has been what I've been saying about TNA for months: They can't just get something good and then just let it end on its own. Why do we need to see the same feuds at next month's ppv, just adding jarrett to the mix and making it even more complicated? Angle and Styles, just like Angle and Joe, has been done so many times that any future idea of it working is dead and burried, meaning it'll happen at least 4 times in the next two years. Morgan, I like, but as you said can't picture him as the top guy. He and Abyss left me scratching my headl Lethal I feel for. He's just getting pushed further and further down and this Sonjay feud should have been over two months ago. Impact just leaves me wondering what the hell did I just watch. 90 minutes of it I think would just make it worse as TNA wouldn't try to cut anything out of it.

 

[I_Like_All_Wrestling]

I think 2 hours is good, but I don't think they use it well. They definitely cram too many things into that time slot. If they could work on the booking and segments I'm sure they could make an incredible show, thought they would have to up the production value a little.

One problem are the skits and backstage segments. I love rough cut and I think that's another thing that differentiates them from WWE but I hate Karens Angle. Every time I've seen it it ends up with Karen getting angry and leaving or the guest leaving. I also don't think she plays her role very well (but I think she could). Certain storylines/angles strech out too long across the entire episode. For example, I don't think that Super Eric and Shark boy need to have multiple segments.

Due to the cramming of segments on talent on the card, this does lead to way too many tag/six man/fatal four way matches which just aren't fun. I can't get into a feud when there is always extra people thrown in for no reason.

Also, I wouldn't quite call Daivari/Abdul Bashir a Muhammad Hassan ripoff since he debuted with him in the game gimmick.

 

[MindsEye]

Basically, I know I've been entertained when I come to the end of a show and realize "Oh, damn, it's OVER!? CRAP!!"
That is the sign of good booking, good pacing, good entertainment.
I like getting lost in a show because it makes me feel a part of it. I don't like to be taken out of the show's context, like when I'm bashed over the head each week with , oh, the Diva Search or maybe McMahon's Millions. Sure, they have their place but they kill the flow.
Keeping people on the edge of their seat from start to finish is what you need. Make it impossible for me to turn the channel and make me beg to see more when the show ends.
THAT is what TNA overlooks a lot of the time.
When I'm sitting through a show with the remote in my hands, that is not a good thing.
Make me want to put it down.
ENTERTAIN ME, TNA!!

 

[misskim]

No not at all, 2 hours is a needed amount of time. I don't know if you watched iMPACT when it was only 60 minutes but it royally sucked, like they crammed so much stuff in it so like nothing ever got explored in full, matches were so short it was pathetic, like it would always be the same people on it...

No thanks I like my 2 hours of iMPACT even though it sucks at the moment. All they need are storylines and the 2 hours would be great, but 60 minutes isn't enough for anything

 

[Syxx-Pac]

I feel that iMPACT! Is perfect at 2 hours. They have a roster that just won't fit on one hour anymore. Plus, I enjoy TNA as much as WWE, Maybe even more. But I seriously have to say that it is perfect the way it is, and always will be. iMPACT is getting higher rated too. More people are hearing the name. But, maybe if they get a second show, they could go 1 hour for that new show, and 2 hours for the main show. iMPACT.

 

[ronthony717]

Tna needs to change but keep the 2hr show.. This is when they should learn from wwe... Instead of havin the karen show or rough cut or any other show type thing added in one show just have one until it gets old and then bring in the other for the first one to get refreshed.. Use the karens angle to set up a new story line and help it get pushed or push a already formed angle.. Right now it feels like they are tryin to push everything down our throats.. Davri can speak.. Davari can work a mic and make his character better then what muhhamad hussans was.. I like that and would like to see it get better and a 2 hour show will help him have his time to improve.. The only reason I can't watch tna most times is because the announce team sucks.. Borash is everywhere they don't have a top ring announcer.. The commentators doesn't act suprised and tells you everything that the wrestlers, matches, storyline should be telling you they shouldn't have to.. Its not the 2 hrs its the show

 

[Shocky]

I think your problem Will is with TNA's booking as opposed to the length of the show. You could blame a particular Booker, but that might draw the wrath of Kool-Aid drinking fan boys, and god forbid, I don't want that.

Two hours is perfect for a wrestling program. There are enough people on TNA's roster, that if used properly, could make damn good television without having anyone of them being shoved down anyones throats.

The problem is the complete incompetence of the people behind the scenes and their inability to use said talent properly. The WWE has recently come to grips with this problem and solved it, and has made interesting television, very interesting television since the draft.

TNA just simply is a company without a direction. There are tons of talent under contract, yet nobody in charge knows what to do with that talent. They got their two hours, yet don't use them properly.

 

[My$terio_Fan]

I agree with others about 2 hours not being too long, its how the show is written that makes it seem like they cant write good television for 2 hours. TNA has too much talent not to have 2 hours. TNA can actually pack alot of different angles(and i dont mean karen & kurt)in their 2 hours and if they only had 1 hour they wouldn't. ECW has 1 hour and the most matches on that show is about 4 tops with a few promo's, and this is with a roster of about 15, I think. TNA would only be able to focus on their "belt" divisions which wouldn't be too bad, but it would leave a ton of wrestlers with nothing to do. I mean in their "heavyweight division" right now they have Angle, Joe, Christian, Styles, Christian, Abyss, Booker, Sting, & a possible Jeff Jarett return. Without 2 hours half of these guys wouldn't be able to be put on TV, which would seem like a waste. So its not the 2 hours that needs to be change, its the way the shows booked.

 

[HBK-aholic]

The problem is with the way TNA is booked, and what goes on backstage. I've recently caught up on all the TNA I've missed over the past month or so and it seems that some weeks they are struggling to fit everything in, with there being that much, quality matches, going on. However others it seems they're trying to make time go faster by dragging things out longer than they should.

What you have to remember is that TNA is still relatively new. They will still be working out things like length of show, length of match and who works well where. For a wrestling company, they've done a lot in a short amount of time. It's taken the WWE a while to get it right, just be glad TNA can put on good matches and good storylines, in a couple of years start thinking about the booking and having everything precise.

 

[BigDaddyT]

I think they could cut out "Karens Angle" and "Rough Cut" and some backstage segments, cut it down to an hour and a half, and still have a great show. I think TNA is just trying wayyyyy too hard. So an Hour and a half would definitely do it for me.

 

[Monkey_Mania]

I dont think iMPACT! is too long at all. I've always though that wrestling shows should be 2 hours long anyways. They definitely have the talent to fill out 2 hours of wrestling. I think the problem lies within the way it is booked. We get too much of a clusterfuck all the time. Angle's running into other angle's and trying to stuff to much shit into one segment, which then leads to some other segments that are boring. Other than that if they get the booking figured out it should be alright.

 

[wwefan49]

I feel that iMPACT! Is perfect at 2 hours. They have a roster that just won't fit on one hour anymore. Plus, I enjoy TNA as much as WWE, Maybe even more. But I seriously have to say that it is perfect the way it is, and always will be. iMPACT is getting higher rated too. More people are hearing the name. But, maybe if they get a second show, they could go 1 hour for that new show, and 2 hours for the main show. iMPACT.

TNA could actually benefit from having a second show maybe make xplosion like velocity or heat. Showcase the X-Division stars. People love the X-Division it made people tune in before. THen Impact can be used for their multiple storylines and characters that they dont have room to show off in their crammed up timeslot. I don't think the amount of time is the problem but the way its used.

 

[anonymous]

Impact is not too long, it is just how they use their two hours. TNA has more than enough talent on their roster to easily fill in two hours of entertainment. Also, wrestling is to each their own. For example, an ROH dvd or PPV has just straight wrestling. For some fans, they can easily watch hours upon hours of straight wrestliing from ROH. For others, there is not enough variety in ROH to entertain certain fans. While the ratings haven't really grown for TNA, they are consistent with their ratings so one can assume that those 1.0 to 1.2 million viewers are entertained for the two hours of Impact. While I don't always agree with the way that TNA talent is booked, I don't feel that Impact is too long.

 

[Showtime]

TNA could actually benefit from having a second show maybe make xplosion like velocity or heat. Showcase the X-Division stars. People love the X-Division it made people tune in before. THen Impact can be used for their multiple storylines and characters that they dont have room to show off in their crammed up timeslot. I don't think the amount of time is the problem but the way its used.

I agree, TNA should have a secondary show, even if it's only one hour long. The problem isn't that Impact is too long. The problem is their trying to cram so much into two hours. They're like trying to make 4 hours fit into 2 and that can't work. TNA's had to cram stuff into their shows before when they were one hour. Now they have 2 hours and more time to work with, but their still sticking with their same philosophy that they must fill the show up as much as they can. I think TNA may also benefit from cutting some of their stars. I'm sure that TNA's roster is bigger than RAW, SD, or ECW's right now. With so many superstars it becomes increaingly hard to fit them all in. I know TNA is probably afraid to release its stars because WWE will scoop them up. But it should start trying to cut some of the talent that aren' being used well enough and push the future stars of TNA a little bit better, at least before WWE decides they want to.

 

[Rusty]

I think TNA iMPACT is the right length at two hours as TNA has a large roster and honesty don't think a shorter time slot would be a wise business decision. As somebody mentioned before, I think the problem should be blamed on the booking of the show that may make the show feel longer than what it actually is. Last week on iMPACT for example, I think they showed nothing but promos and backstage interviews for over 20 minutes straight before showing another match. It really is ridiculous and makes viewers want to change the channel as most of them were pointless and uninteresting.

Also, I think TNA actually struggles to fit everyone on the show due to the roster depth and also the amount of angles they have going on at the same time. TNA usually has over 6 or 7 different angles going on at the same time. 2 of those angles might involve tag teams and therefore, I think they struggle giving air time to every single wrestler involved in a main angle. They also need to give time to their Knockouts and X-Division wrestling respectively. Along with their Tag Team division and their rookies. So I think 2 hours is a good length for the show.

But I do agree with Will's point as sometimes the show feels like its been airing for 2 hours when its only the first half of the show. TNA need to spread their segments around instead of having 4 or 5 straight after a match. Some wrestlers get too many backstage segments as I believe no wrestler in TNA, unless your involved in the main angle of the entire company, should receive no more than 1 segment and a match per week. I also don't think TNA should get a secondary show as I think one 2 hour show a week is enough for me.

 

[wwefan49]

TNA's big advantages are their young talent. Their difference in style. Thier Knockout division. Their Tag Teams,and The X-Division.

Beer Money,Petey Williams,Taylor Wilde those three should all get a segment or a match once a week on Impact. The other X-Divison wrestlers,Tag Teams, and Knockouts should be used on a second show. Like Xplosion or some B-Show. The main eventers and the champions should be on Impact. Xplosion could showcase all the talent that doesn't get used and half the segments they wanna show on Impact that we don't wanna see. A second show would really benefit the overall product in the sense that Impacts precious timeslot wouldn't be wasted on crap like Kip James and the prince justice brotherhood. But if TNA insists on using them they can be on the second show.

 

[marxxx]

I would love to see them add another show, even if it was once a month... a mini pay per view or freeview leading in the main ppv event.

In order to make the weekly show any longer, I think they would have to add a few guys to the roster to keep the story lines interesting.

 

[Dead Kennedy]

Personally, I don't find iMPACT! an enjoyable show. The few shows I've seen, I didn't even bother to burn to a disc - that should tell you how I feel about TNA's programming. But recently, Raw has become very similar to iMPACT! in quality.

TNA's wrestling is fantastic, no doubt about it, but that's only half the ingredients needed for an entertaining two hours. I don't think cutting down the length of iMPACT! will help it in any way, though. It will just mean more condensed storylines and matches, making for even less sense than they did before. And that is bad.