What Are Your Expectations of TNA in 2017?

[It's Damn Real!]

With the expected January 1st announcement that Anthem Sports & Entertainment is the impending owner and operator of TNA/Impact Wrestling, with the soon-to-be former magnate Dixie Carter effectively out of power, what are your actual expectations for TNA and the TNA brand heading into 2017?

There are a number of concerns still on the table that are in need of resolve, including whether or not the TNA acronym is going to stick around, how committed Anthem will be to PopTV given the mediocre ratings TNA/IW is averaging (just as they averaged with Destination America), what will happen with Challenge dropping TNA in the UK, as well as the Jeff Jarrett return rumors, the expiring contracts of Drew Galloway and Eli Drake, and the combination rumor of the impending contract expiration of Matt Hardy, along with the reports he is expected to be tapped for more creative influence/control in the new year.

The way I see it, having new ownership is a great first step, but any anticipation that Anthem S&E will be a bottomless bank vault is short-sighted and just plain wrong. Just how much they'll open the coffers to talent acquisition and retention remains to be seen, though I do think they'll take a healthy approach.

The real key for me is actually Jarrett, given his current relationship with GFW and the speculation that the two could revisit the idea of effectively merging TNA and GFW under the same banner.

I've made no bones about how much I think the TNA brand is dead and how much it needs to be buried and reborn under a new name. A GFW merger could be a solid second step to take where subsequent steps could continue to be taken to reinvigorate the new-ish brand.

 

[Weems2k]

They need to rebuild their reputation. That means getting rid of the TNA name, and perhaps cutting all ties with Dixie. Her backdoor dealings have let a real sour taste in everyone's mouth.

Merging with Jarret could be good depending how they do it. I don't know how much resources Anthem has, but if they can at least do a taping schedule similar to what Raw use to do in the mid 90's, that's a start. Have 1 live show, and then tape the rest of the month's show. Another live show next month, etc, etc. Maybe try to rotate a few different venues if possible.

The ratings are what it is. As long as they are on these small, obscure networks, getting over 500k is going to be a challenge. Not to mention more, and more people are cutting the cord, and going strictly with streaming/over-the-air TV.

They got a really good roster at the moment. The talent is there, it's just a matter of showcasing it.

 

[johnbragg]

1. They'll finally tour India, if only to avoid losing SonySix, their only revenue stream.

2. You won't see Anthem throwing money around. So don't expect Cody Runnels, Ryback Reeves, Stu Bennett (Wade Barrett) and Alberto PAtron to show up as company saviors. (Evidence: If Anthem were planning to open the checkbook, they'd just pay off the Audience of One lawsuit.)

3. Marathon taping sessions four to six times a year. Looking at what they've announced for January, and making guesses:

Jan 5 Impact Jan 5, 12
Jan 6 ONO January
Jan 7 Early: Impact Jan 19, 26
Jan 7 Late: ONO February
Jan 8 Early: Impact February 2, 9
Jan 8 Late: ONO March
Jan 10: Impact February 16, 23
Jan 11: Impact March 2, 9
Jan 12: Impact March 16, 23

Rinse, lather and repeat in MArch, June and September. Maybe March, June, August and October so you can do Bound For Glory.

4. They haven't cancelled the One Night Only PPVs. Does that mean they're important to SonySix and/or Anthem, or that Anthem just hasn't been able to take control yet? PPV has never been a TNA strength, and I suspect that Challenge UK was a major reason that they went to One Night Only's rather than just killing the worthless PPVs.

5. Dixie Carter will be out of power, but will still be on television as a character.

6. There will be no new TV deal in the UK.

7. "Impact Wrestling" will replace TNA in branding all but the oldest content.

8. The house show tours will either not be announced, be cancelled, or draw terrible attendance and lose money.

 

[jg_awesome1]

2017 should be a complete re-branding of TNA. The people that are gonna wanna watch TNA are people that aren't interested in the "WWE style" wrestling and are looking for something different. That being said TNA has that right now with the Grand Championship and its unique rules. If Anthem wants to get this product back to something positive they should use the Grand Championship and match style and use it as a platform for the new company.

First, change the name from TNA to something like GCW (Grand Championship Wrestling). Then follow that up by announcing that all matches will be singles or tag team matches contested under the 3 round format , except change the round length from 3 to 5 minutes.

This gives you 3 championship opportunities , 2 singles titles being the GCW Heavyweight and Jr. or Light heavyweight belts and a GCW tag team championship.

An idea that I think could work would be to pitch the show to Netflix , Hulu , or the Fite Network. They could hold several week long tournament style events which could be taped and edited together as a 10 to 12 episode season with each taping event resulting in a "new season" for the company to upload to the network while also saving money while establishing this new product.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

They're losing a lot of talent...

Drew has already indicated his contract ends in Feb so likely to head back to WWE and with Matt giving Jeff his name back, it's pretty clear he's headed back to WWE, whether Matt follows or not.

 

[ShinChan]

Rebrand TNA with a refreshing acronym. TNA is a Survivor but the image is quite bad.

Better in-ring product. EC3 Vs. Lashley was the match of the year for me in TNA.

Quit over saturation of finishers.

Give more time to the midcard and X-Division.

Push guys like Trevor Lee, Marshe Rockett, Caleb Konley in X-Division.

Don't let go of talented wrestlers like Drew Galloway, Eli Drake etc.

Less focus on Hardyz.

Less focus on the on-screen Authority figure.

Sign some talented indy wrestlers.

At this time, TNA is totally dependent on its main event scene. X-Division is what made TNA different from WWE. Better booking of Knockouts did the same. I admit that main event scene is good. But X-Division and Knockouts Division need to get more better.

The importance of X-Division at this point can be seen quite clearly. The title match for this division wasn't even announced for the biggest event of the year as in Bound For Glory before the event actually happened.

I do want TNA to succeed...

 

[Jack-Hammer]

It's kind of hard to know what to expect in regards to TNA and that's not a positive when you consider that the company has been in a financial downward spiral and a boardroom power struggle for what seems like forever.

With reports of TNA returning to live ppv events next year, one would think that Anthem is pumping some capital into the company. If so, that can be a positive provided that the cost of doing the ppvs is worth it, depending upon the number of buys, what share the ppv provider gets, etc.

In the grand scheme of things, my gut tells me not to expect a whole lot because, unless I'm mistaken, Dixie Carter is still CEO of TNA. I obviously don't know about all the various boardroom goings on in regards to Anthem and Dixie Carter, but I'm guessing that Carter as CEO still wields the same overall stroke she had before and that it isn't some sort of figurehead position. After all, if all the numerous reports are true, Dixie all but went out of her way to sabotage various buyout deals because those deals didn't call for her to retain any power or authority. I just have no faith in Dixie Carter whatsoever, she's made the wrong decisions too many times to count and I don't see that changing; as a result, I see TNA continuing to flounder and limp on much as it's been doing.

 

[johnbragg]

In the grand scheme of things, my gut tells me not to expect a whole lot because, unless I'm mistaken, Dixie Carter is still CEO of TNA.

I don't think this is (will be) the case. The rumors are that Dean Broadhead is going to be in charge. Yesterday's rumor was that Dixie wanted to do one of the quarterly tapings on the India tour, "since we have to go there anyway" and Broadhead shot it down.

I think that Anthem's strategy was to hold enough TNA debt that Dixie Carter couldn't use Chapter 11 to stay in power. But given the history of how tightly Carter has clung to power in TNA, I expect that the sale includes a clause giving Carter a contract as a performer and an executive title. She'll stay as the onscreen GM, and/or a manager, ring announcer, anything to be on teeee veeeee.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

It's pretty much depends if they are able to keep what's left of their top guys or not. Those guys want to stay with TNA but you need to pay big bucks to keep them especially the hardy's because you know that wwe will do everything in their power to bring thme back when their contract are up in febuary or march.

Right now I think that the first thing that they need to do before changing anything on the product from is to make sure they have all the top talents sign for a long period of time and clean up the front office of tna ventures and pay all the ebt that they owes so that all te lawsuits go away. After getting rid of some of the incompetent employees in the front office then hire peoples that know what it takes to make the product profitable right now.

The main problem I think with tna right now is that wwe is doing tna better then tna, b that I mean that nxt is what tna was suppose to be before dixe went on and screwed everything up. So anthem as a lot of work to do but I'm not worry since they are the ones tha owned the fight network in canada and seeing what the were able to do with the network in such a sort period of time make me think that they know what they are doing and will do everything in their power to make tna profitable and by seeing how much tna programming their was on the network this week alone, I'm not worried for the future of the company

 

[New Hot Fed]

I'm mainly hoping that Anthem injects more money into TNA than Sinclair is doing with ROH. TNA fans expect from the promotion. I wish they could get guys from the WWE, bring back the former TNA guys and get top indy stars.

I hope they get to a better network in the US and in the UK.

The whole presentation of the show should change. Hire a real competent booker Paul Heyman-style that injects real enthusiasm into the product.

Even though it was all the buzz in 2016, the whole Hardy stuff is not good for the growth of TNA. Do not reknew them. Focus on Galloway and Drake as far as re-signing.

JJ coming back could be good as he knew how to make things exciting from 02 to 09.

Please fire John Gaburick.

 

[New Hot Fed]

It's pretty much depends if they are able to keep what's left of their top guys or not. Those guys want to stay with TNA but you need to pay big bucks to keep them especially the hardy's because you know that wwe will do everything in their power to bring thme back when their contract are up in febuary or march.

Right now I think that the first thing that they need to do before changing anything on the product from is to make sure they have all the top talents sign for a long period of time and clean up the front office of tna ventures and pay all the ebt that they owes so that all te lawsuits go away. After getting rid of some of the incompetent employees in the front office then hire peoples that know what it takes to make the product profitable right now.

The main problem I think with tna right now is that wwe is doing tna better then tna, b that I mean that nxt is what tna was suppose to be before dixe went on and screwed everything up. So anthem as a lot of work to do but I'm not worry since they are the ones tha owned the fight network in canada and seeing what the were able to do with the network in such a sort period of time make me think that they know what they are doing and will do everything in their power to make tna profitable and by seeing how much tna programming their was on the network this week alone, I'm not worried for the future of the company

If NXT does TNA better than TNA, than go more traditional. Maybe associate yourself with the NWA.

 

[Lowdown]

This sounds crazy, but along with a possible merger with GFW, perhaps have an open door policy and develop a working relationship with ROH and New Japan. The way I see it, if Dixie is truly out of power, then maybe an olive branch can be extended. I wouldn't mind seeing the reformation of the Kingdom between Mike Bennett and Adam Cole, Kyle O'Reilly defend the ROH title against EC3 and the like. It's a longshot, but anything is possible, right?

 

[Psykohurricane55]

This sounds crazy, but along with a possible merger with GFW, perhaps have an open door policy and develop a working relationship with ROH and New Japan. The way I see it, if Dixie is truly out of power, then maybe an olive branch can be extended. I wouldn't mind seeing the reformation of the Kingdom between Mike Bennett and Adam Cole, Kyle O'Reilly defend the ROH title against EC3 and the like. It's a longshot, but anything is possible, right?

The problem with this is that is that I don't see either ROH or new japan wanting to work with TNA because they see them as competition especially for ROH and their owners sinclar that didn't hide the fact that they want to beat TNA and not interesting with in any working relationship with TNA. They might be able to get working relationship with smaller indy's company and it might help them but those at thier level, I don't see that happening.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

Perhaps they can't develop a working relationship, but they can certainly develop a cordial one, which would be a massive step up on the one they have right now. It could just be as simple as allowing talents to work across the brands, even if there's no constant rate of exchange. The Bucks and Hardys, for example, seem to really want to do something.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

I don't see roh talent being on tna tv or vice versa anytime soon because it wouldn't work since both company would want to look good in on tv. Last time tna did a working agreement with another company, it was global force wrestling and they made them look like complete idiots and roh won't want to take that chance. I think you could do something like that outside of the company on a smaller scale like what the hardy's and the bucks are doing right now since they're match will be a non televised match for a company that isn't roh or tna.

I think you could do so inter promotional think between tna and roh on tv if the matches are not televised but a talent exchange won't work because roh still want o be no.2 and beat tna and same think goes for tna.

 

[Lowdown]

I don't see roh talent being on tna tv or vice versa anytime soon because it wouldn't work since both company would want to look good in on tv. Last time tna did a working agreement with another company, it was global force wrestling and they made them look like complete idiots and roh won't want to take that chance. I think you could do something like that outside of the company on a smaller scale like what the hardy's and the bucks are doing right now since they're match will be a non televised match for a company that isn't roh or tna.

I think you could do so inter promotional think between tna and roh on tv if the matches are not televised but a talent exchange won't work because roh still want o be no.2 and beat tna and same think goes for tna.

I hear what you're saying, but wasn't Dixie still in some control when GFW was there (legit question, fwiw)? I ask this because if both sides can have a cordial working agreement like IDR stated, then chances are all prties involved, including New Japan, look good? Remember, this isn't former WCW guys going to WWE and getting buried. With any kind of power or say so taken from Dixie, then a cross-promotional agreement might be a way to increase revenue. It's been a long time since former TNA talent like the Bucks and Jay Lethal were there, and causal fans probably would give TNA a chance if they follow them in ROH and New Japan.

 

[johnbragg]

I hear what you're saying, but wasn't Dixie still in some control when GFW was there (legit question, fwiw)?

Yes.

I ask this because if both sides can have a cordial working agreement like IDR stated, then chances are all prties involved, including New Japan, look good? Remember, this isn't former WCW guys going to WWE and getting buried. With any kind of power or say so taken from Dixie, then a cross-promotional agreement might be a way to increase revenue. It's been a long time since former TNA talent like the Bucks and Jay Lethal were there, and causal fans probably would give TNA a chance if they follow them in ROH and New Japan.

It increases revenue for TNA to have Jay Lethal and the Young Bucks show up. (Actually I'm not sure it does--their TV contracts are set, and I don't think a talent exchange is going to help sell ads on PopTV.)

But what does ROH or New Japan get out of it? When GFW came to TNA, TNA had TV and GFW didn't. TNA isn't bringing "exposure on major national cable network" to the table anymore. They aren't bringing Angle, Styles and Joe to the table anymore.

TNA doesn't have much to offer ROH or New Japan in an exchange. They can loosen the restrictions on their talent by reworking contracts (and probably save some money), but that's about it.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

I hear what you're saying, but wasn't Dixie still in some control when GFW was there (legit question, fwiw)? I ask this because if both sides can have a cordial working agreement like IDR stated, then chances are all prties involved, including New Japan, look good? Remember, this isn't former WCW guys going to WWE and getting buried. With any kind of power or say so taken from Dixie, then a cross-promotional agreement might be a way to increase revenue. It's been a long time since former TNA talent like the Bucks and Jay Lethal were there, and causal fans probably would give TNA a chance if they follow them in ROH and New Japan.

Like john wrote, it does help tna but what does it do for ROH especially since ROH as a better tv deal then tna as right now and the only guy that tna as that can be worth something for them are the hardy's. So it wouldn't be a good deal for them. Tna would have to get a better tv deal in th u.s. for ROH to even consider a working agreement with tna right now, roh is in a way better place then tna. As far as new japan, if your trying to get exposure in the u.s, do you choose TNA who is almost a dead brand and has a small tv deal with almost no exposure, no live events and almost no ppv events or do you choose ROH who as a better tv deal, more live events and ppv events? Again a working agreement with tna would only help tna and new japan isn't gaining anything.

 

[WorstWrestlingExcrement]

I think the name TNA can stay it is not the name but the product for example : Big Mac without the patties is not a hamburger! The ingredient is wrestling and this is what they need to focus on! Their roster got shorter and TNA needs to bring in new talent to get ratings! Great Khali , Batista, Rey Mysterio Jr , CM Punk , Carlito Colon and or ADR and Paige can be some added assets to the company to boost ratings! TNA needs to market their brand come out with a new TNA Wrestling videogame for PS4 and Xbox 1 ! Release some new action figures of TNA ! Hell Zema Ion can be a great start since he is TNA X division champion! A live tour for USA and Canada is needed here for TNA!
They'll finally need to tour Indi to avoid losing SonySix as their only revenue stream.I mentioned about their marketing ideas but also TNA needs to secure the current roster ! Get rid of Drew Galloway he is useless and bring back Amazing Red and Kenny King! Amazing Red vs Zema Ion can blow the roof I tell you !

These old days where X division champion meant extreme and a lot to wrestling fans now seems to be dead and it needs to revive!
Lastly they need to get a better channel so everyone can watch TNA how about FOX ? Try some sportschannel TSN in canada as WCW used to be on

 

[Fillet Club]

Their roster got shorter and TNA needs to bring in new talent to get ratings! Great Khali

Great Khali

Great Khali

You're trolling us all at this point right? I genuinely hope that this entire thing is some kind of elaborate joke you've been playing out for however bleeding long you've been here.

And if you really believe this... well then you're on a plane of insanity that none of us wish to be a part of.

Please please never reproduce.

 

[ramblinroy682]

I think the merger with GFW is fine if they are going for getting a new name, but I would go a different route. I would go with either Anthem Sports Entertainment, ASE, The ASE of Professional Wrestling or Anthem Wrestling Association. Because TNA has a stigma attached to it and if I were a new owner, I'd want to distance myself from it as much as I am able. Sure, we could keep the video library, but I'd be selling this as a new company. Here are a few things I would do right off the bat:

1. Go to a 4-sided, traditional wrestling ring. TNA is connected to the six sided ring. Go to 4. Wrestlers have been on record stating they like the 4 sided ring better.

2. If you have to tape ahead of time, which from a cost saving standpoint makes sense, then I would change the order of my live events. In the past, TNA has always gone live and taped the follow ups including the end of feuds/storylines. Instead of giving away my ending, I'd have my live event be the finale of whatever big storyline is going on. If we're building to Lashley vs. Carter have that be the "live event" at the next round of TV tapings. That way you blow off a feud and get folks to tune in to see what the resolution will be. You can also often start the next feud as a part of that progression. Think the same way you want folks to tune in to the PPV.

3. Rebrand all championships:
-ASE/AWA/etc World Wrestling Champion - Be sure to leave out the term Heavyweight. In today's wrestling, many times your champ might be a smaller guy. By including the word heavyweight, that implies you have a smaller division. Don't bring attention to the size of the participant unless you have too.

-No more X-Division or Grand Champion - I would go with the ASE/AWA/etc Heritage Wrestling Championship. This division would be a throwback to the days of pure wrestling. Enforce the rules of many years ago. No Closed fists, no throws over the top rope, no hair pulling, tight grabbing, strict 5 counts, etc. Really try to limit the action to in-ring action. You can still have off the top rope moves fancy things, but it seems like every match has a suicide dive, a chair shot, etc. Make this stand out from ROH, WWE, 205, etc. I'd also have this division focus on the true competition aspect of wrestling. Make this division about the physicality and competition. When a wrestler competes in a Heritage Division match, count the wins and losses, have a ranking system. I could see a guy like Davey Richards being the initial champion here. Save the shenanigans for the for the World Title Matches. Occasionally, you could have a foreign object or cheating in this division, but keep it out for the most part.

-Rebrand the tag titles and focus on building teams here. The Hardy's, Decay, DCC are fine, but bring in some other talent.

4. Focus on building new stars and developing personas that drive people to watch. Don't give to much power to the Hardy's. Build guys like Eli Drake, Ethan Carter, Mike Bennett, Bram, Trevor Lee, etc. Take time to introduce us to what drives them. If you look at the guys who have had the most success over the last year or two, it's been guys who were given depth to their characters. Ethan Carter has been the best example.

5. Get a new creative team. Find a guy like Triple H who's smart about the business, understands what it takes to be a top guy, and will put in the time and effort to build the brand. You wish you could trust a guy like Scott Hall. Maybe it is Matt Hardy, but I wouldn't do to much of the campy stuff like Deletion.

6. Be unscripted. You don't have the finances to hire great writers. Let the guys talk and be themselves.

I think you could have some good success with a few tweaks to the roster and a some of these steps. TNA will never be WWE. TNA needs to focus on being better than ROH and retaking the title as the best US non WWE wrestling company.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

I think the merger with GFW is fine if they are going for getting a new name, but I would go a different route. I would go with either Anthem Sports Entertainment, ASE, The ASE of Professional Wrestling or Anthem Wrestling Association. Because TNA has a stigma attached to it and if I were a new owner, I'd want to distance myself from it as much as I am able. Sure, we could keep the video library, but I'd be selling this as a new company. Here are a few things I would do right off the bat:

1. Go to a 4-sided, traditional wrestling ring. TNA is connected to the six sided ring. Go to 4. Wrestlers have been on record stating they like the 4 sided ring better.

2. If you have to tape ahead of time, which from a cost saving standpoint makes sense, then I would change the order of my live events. In the past, TNA has always gone live and taped the follow ups including the end of feuds/storylines. Instead of giving away my ending, I'd have my live event be the finale of whatever big storyline is going on. If we're building to Lashley vs. Carter have that be the "live event" at the next round of TV tapings. That way you blow off a feud and get folks to tune in to see what the resolution will be. You can also often start the next feud as a part of that progression. Think the same way you want folks to tune in to the PPV.

3. Rebrand all championships:
-ASE/AWA/etc World Wrestling Champion - Be sure to leave out the term Heavyweight. In today's wrestling, many times your champ might be a smaller guy. By including the word heavyweight, that implies you have a smaller division. Don't bring attention to the size of the participant unless you have too.

-No more X-Division or Grand Champion - I would go with the ASE/AWA/etc Heritage Wrestling Championship. This division would be a throwback to the days of pure wrestling. Enforce the rules of many years ago. No Closed fists, no throws over the top rope, no hair pulling, tight grabbing, strict 5 counts, etc. Really try to limit the action to in-ring action. You can still have off the top rope moves fancy things, but it seems like every match has a suicide dive, a chair shot, etc. Make this stand out from ROH, WWE, 205, etc. I'd also have this division focus on the true competition aspect of wrestling. Make this division about the physicality and competition. When a wrestler competes in a Heritage Division match, count the wins and losses, have a ranking system. I could see a guy like Davey Richards being the initial champion here. Save the shenanigans for the for the World Title Matches. Occasionally, you could have a foreign object or cheating in this division, but keep it out for the most part.

-Rebrand the tag titles and focus on building teams here. The Hardy's, Decay, DCC are fine, but bring in some other talent.

4. Focus on building new stars and developing personas that drive people to watch. Don't give to much power to the Hardy's. Build guys like Eli Drake, Ethan Carter, Mike Bennett, Bram, Trevor Lee, etc. Take time to introduce us to what drives them. If you look at the guys who have had the most success over the last year or two, it's been guys who were given depth to their characters. Ethan Carter has been the best example.

5. Get a new creative team. Find a guy like Triple H who's smart about the business, understands what it takes to be a top guy, and will put in the time and effort to build the brand. You wish you could trust a guy like Scott Hall. Maybe it is Matt Hardy, but I wouldn't do to much of the campy stuff like Deletion.

6. Be unscripted. You don't have the finances to hire great writers. Let the guys talk and be themselves.

I think you could have some good success with a few tweaks to the roster and a some of these steps. TNA will never be WWE. TNA needs to focus on being better than ROH and retaking the title as the best US non WWE wrestling company.

Just wanted to write that i completly agree with your comments, they need to go back to basis like what they did when they we're a PPV only company. They need bookers that knows what wrestling is all about. Guys that knows how to go from point a to point b in a feud and keep your interest in that feud.

Personally two of the greatest build in TNA history was for the Raven vs Jeff Jarrett title match in the ppv era of tna and the Joe vs angle cage match at lockdown 2008 if i remember correctly. You just look at how both feud we're booked and how much they made you want to see the payoff match at the end of all of it. These 2 matches we'Re great example on how to book wrestling in a simple matter and TNA need to go back to that. They already are doing studio wrestling anyway so why not go all the way to how wrestling use to be booked before the hollywood writers cames in and change the games for the worst in my opinion.