You're trying to argue that TNA can be competition because the third show is sometimes beaten in the ratings by TNA? Last week TNA drew a 0.9, when superstars (the FOURTH WWE show) drew a 0.8. Ouch.
Key word is sometimes, I said they do have a run of being ahead of ECW but drops at times because of inconsistencies and all the current internal problems TNA are having which are affecting viewership at this time. Last week may have been a 0.9 but in the same week, ECW only managed a 1.0, so it's not as big of an ouch there as you claim it to be.
We probably won't be able to find out how Impact does this week until after this debate is over.
Yeh but you have to realise at the time the difference in ratings full stop, WWE was at a 6 usually and that was as the second promotion. Now WWE is number 1 and it's lucky if it gets a 3.5. That's a big difference in times.
Well naturally that's why the PG era is in affect, to keep the key audiences in. Back in the 90s wrestling was big, WCW provided the main wrestling bouts, WWE provided the entertainment and ECW brought the hardcore revolution in, it's no secret that the 90s was wrestling's biggest decade. But the IWC and forums like this recognise the change in times and the problems WWE has as a company because it lacks competition, I think we see at least 20 new threads a week with something to moan about that's not happy about. I just had a look in the TNA section, most of the anger seems to be at the backstage issues and what Dixie Carter has planned for the company in some parts.
All aside from Hogan have been involved with TNA at some point, and it's made no difference. So we're assuming that Turners buy out has nothing to do with AOL Time Warner then? If so then good beef, however I don't think it will be out of this, at the end of the day he lost $7billion with this merger, I think he'll be careful about gambles.
I very much doubt this was due to the time warner merger, afterall he was Vice Chairman of the coporation up until 2006, so he did get his say so!
In regards to gambles, he did try and keep WCW alive when the board of AOLTW didn't want it going. He had no backup support and the board overpowered him in keeping WCW alive. You said yourself, he was Vice-Chairman, meaning he answers to the Chairman, so he had no choice but to let them have their way despite not wanting WCW to fold.
Maybe it should be aimed at Russo, but isn't Russo still with TNA? Turner and Russo combo didn't work before!
Which is why I have stated he's the first person Ted Turner would remove from the TNA product unless he had something big to work with. But when Russo came in, Ted's main control was restricted by TimeWarner, they even begged Bischoff to come back and save the company. Russo was one of the reasons WCW died, I mean you have David Arquette and himself holding the WCW title but also the clusterfuck known as Bash at the Beach 2000.
The top two reasons why WCW failed have been named as David Arquette winning the belt (Russo's idea) and Russo being head of creative without a filter in the form of Vince McMahon. Russo was the reason why the company was brought to it's knee, so it's no secret the combination didn't work. But this was more the people inbetween Turner and WCW Management who made this call. TimeWarner and Russo thought it would be a great idea to put the belt on Arquette and this is what killed the company, I'm pretty much certain Ted Turner would have stopped this had this not for been TimeWarner freezing up his control at the time.
If I commented on htis it would take it off topic, but the jist is simply this...how do you know they were fired for this reason?
Well given that they have been two of out the four closest Jarrett allies who have been fired this year, it's pretty obvious that there is some backing to the idea that this is part of phasing out Jarrett. Not to mention that Cornette was butting heads with Russo and KP James wasn't being used. It's a combination of the two, but you can see Jarrett is on his way out.
Teds experience was in a company that failed! I'd also hardly say Angle is on the same level as Hogan, yeh he's one of TNAs biggest stars but hardly on a Hulk Hogan level.
I never meant on a popularity level, but Angle has the same power as Hogan had in WCW, or what Triple H has in the WWE, he's the golden boy and Dixie right now is doing everything to make him the special one, giving him the control at the expense of Jarrett, just because Jarett might be dating his ex-wife.
TNA is not ready to compete with WWE at the moment, even if it had a Ted Turner windfall it would take more than two years.
You're right, they're not ready to compete. Because they're at a phase of being headless chickens which is why the need the power and influence of Ted Turner there. He knows the right people, has the finance, he knows who to get rid of and who to bring in. Dixie Carter doesn't know what she's doing except trying to keep Angle special and is thinking about reducing the amount of PPVs they provide, an act like this would surely kill the company as they don't out their buyrates. Vince Russo thinks he's the one who made the Attitude Era and wants to bring that to TNA, clearly it's not working as much. Ted Turner can remove the garbage and get TNA cleaned up, with some plans to bring in new members already in motion, it could be a great company.
While it would need about two years to get it into full motion, someone like Ted Turner can save it before a mistake is made by Carter or Russo. The moment something bad happens to Angle, it's going to be on her head, had Turner been around, he would have been removed because of him being a liability, I know he's cleared of stalking charges, but he still is awaiting a prison sentence for driving with a suspended license and carrying unprescribed HGH, an illegal substance in the US.
Mr Kennedy or Hogan? Umaga or Savage? Sudden drops? Like last weeks 0.9 rating?
I thought you said that the times were different to consider doing comparisons like this? You know Hogan and Savage are too high up compared to Kennedy and Umaga, I said they were guys with big potential to be over and be successful, while WCW got in Hogan and Savage when they were big, TNA still have made stars who got big through them.
In reference to Raw, their ratings has been jumping up and down, the guest hosts can work or fail pending on who's in the show. You said yourself, they're lucky to reach a 3.5 at times and they're experimenting to bring themselves up, you've surely been reading the reports during the past number of months of why they're doing this right? To give Raw some celebrity feel to bring in the viewers when it affects programming, there's a reason why many say Smackdown is the better show!
There's a difference in getting over in TNA to getting over in the wider wrestling world.
You're correct, and that difference is Ted Turner
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In Summary
Ted Turner is a man who knows how to be successful at running a business. He took Jim Crocket Promotions, a highly well known company that had troubles against the then WWF and turned it into WCW, a company that provided the biggest competition and came close at one point to putting their rivals out of business. But where the internal problems came, these were beyond the control of Ted Turner, by the time WCW folded, Turner was the one man who stood to try and keep it alive but AOL TimeWarner would have none of it, they restricted his financial feed and influence, taking away their main lifeline and putting in rubbish like Vince Russo.
Looking at TNA, a company who's lifespan is getting to the point where JCP had lasted, it's a territorial based company who has slowly risen up to try and be a company to compete with the WWE. It needs publicity, promotion and a strong financial backer who can bring it to the level it needs to be at and that man is Ted Turner. He knows the experience of owning WCW and he knows how to make a wrestling organisation successful, while the like of Dixe Carter, Russo and other internal conflicts highly affect the company at this time, it needs a new slate to bring it to the next level, somethingh Turner can provide. On top of that, Turner can make TNA big in two years, they have the ground already set and their popularity is slowly gaining, so he has the means to take it to that final step.
If there's one thing Vince McMahon knows, is who his main enemies are, if he didn't that's not why he made Turner sign a contract to stay away from wrestling for a certain number of years. Turner can make another company successful and TNA is at the point where he can bring its popularity up and clear out the garbage it needs from ignorance and inexperience. If TNA was brought by Ted Turner, they can and will be THE next competition WWE has by two years.
